


Lorelai Gilmore: A Series Of Unfortunate Events

by destielwholock



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: 90'S, 90's Music, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gilmore Girls Setting, Angst, Best Friends, Canon, Canon - TV, Classics, Cute, F/M, Family, Fiction, Fluffy, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Fix-It, Happy Birthday Baby! A Gilmore Girls Ficathon, Happy Ending, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Music, Other, Post-Canon, Post-Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, Pre-Canon, Pre-Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, Pre-Relationship, Prequel, Romance, Romance Novel, Teen Romance, fan fiction, friends - Freeform, movies - Freeform, relationship, teen mom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-05 07:42:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 66,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14613078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destielwholock/pseuds/destielwholock
Summary: This story follows Lorelai Gilmore's life from the day her daughter was born to the day she moves to the small and charming town of Stars Hollow with many twists and adventures that she had gone through as a young, teenage single mom.This story will include many "what if" scenarios.Read along to find out more about the Gilmore Girls' past!





	1. The Lorelais

_October 8th, 1984_

_Hartford, Connecticut_

_The Gilmore Residence_

Lorelai Gilmore was lying in bed, watching some old cartoon reruns that she had seen before only about a hundred times while eating a sandwich the maid had made for her. She wasn't exactly sure what was inside the sandwich, but the maid, who spoke mainly Spanish, had explained that it was very healthy for the baby. It didn't taste all that bad so she ate it anyway. What did she know about what is healthy for a baby and what wasn't? She was only sixteen after all, and all she knew about pregnancy and motherhood was what her biology textbook had taught her and what she got from all the books and magazines her mother had given her from when Emily herself was pregnant with her. 

The teenager was about to take another bite when she felt a huge cramp in her belly. She groaned in pain, dropping the bread on her plate and rubbing her big, swollen stomach in small circles, hoping that the cramps would pass. Unfortunately for her, they did not. She shut her eyes as she felt a stronger cramp coming, this one resonating in all her body. 

"Ow!" she whimpered as she took in deep breaths. She counted till 10, 20, 50, and when she had gotten to 100 and the pains were still realized, she knew something was definitely wrong. Her assumptions were confirmed when she felt a small puddle of water under her. 

"Crap," she muttered, her heart rate speeding up to about a million miles an hour. She got up, a little wobbly on her feet and made her way to the closet. She changed her pants, grabbed the bag with her prepacked clothes for this specific day and started making her way downstairs to get to the hospital. To say she was afraid would have been the understatement of the year. She had to be strong though. She had to put on her brave face. She had to do it for her little girl. She would not allow herself to be a weak mother. No. She was going to be strong, and she was going to be loving, and she was going to be great. She was determined to. She was going to be the parent that both Emily and Richard Gilmore never were and could never be. 

She stopped at her father's office, grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a short note to her parents. 

_"Dear mom and dad,_

_I'm in labor. See you later,_

_Lorelai."_

She left the note on the small table in the foyer and made her way outside. She then got into her mother’s Jaguar and drove herself to the hospital, knowing full well of all the risks she was taking, especially since she still didn’t have a driver’s license. When she got there safely though, she left the car in the parking lot and walked inside to the emergency room. 

"Excuse me," she said, the nurse behind the counter looked up at her with a wide, probably fake, smile. Lorelai could see the tiredness in her eyes. The smile was definitely fake. 

"Good evening! How may I help you, young lady?" the nurse asked her with a cheerful tone. The indifference in her eyes was very clear. 

"Well, I think I'm going into labor," she said with a grin and the nurse raised a questioning eyebrow at her. 

"You  _think_  you're going into labor, or are you going into labor?" 

"Well, my water broke about 30 minutes ago so I'm pretty sure I am going into labor!" she feigned excitement in her voice, the fear in her bright blue eyes very clear to anyone who bothered to care. God knows what the next hours, let alone days and years were going to be like. 

"Oh dear," the nurse mumbled, smiling reassuringly at Lorelai. She grabbed a few papers and handed them to the teenager, the judgment clear in her eyes. Lorelai was used to that look though. Strangers would look at her with pity and judgment all the time, feeling sorry for the young girl who threw her whole future away. She was most familiar with that look coming from her parents' eyes, except theirs had a little bit of disappointment mixed in there. 

"Well, you're going to have to fill these forms in, dear, and when you're done someone will be right with you to take you to the delivery room." The nurse explained, handing her a pen.

She thanked her and made her way to the chairs in the waiting room and started filling in the papers. She felt a little queasy, every now and then getting a strong cramp. She finished filling the papers in after what seemed like forever and handed them to the nurse. 

"Is anyone with you, hon?" the nurse asked her, that same look of pity in her eyes again. Lorelai looked away and mumbled a simple no. 

Another nurse came soon after and helped her in a wheelchair to take her to the changing room and prep her for delivery. 

After getting prepped and putting on that horrible hospital gown, the nurses were finally rolling Lorelai in a gurney to the delivery room. The pain was unbearable though. The cramps were the worst they had ever been in all her nine months of delivery. 

"Okay, this is a big pain and I'd really like it to go away, please." She whimpered, the nurse softly telling her to breathe in deep. 

"Breathing doesn't help, can I hit you instead?" Lorelai grinned sheepishly at the nurse, but the grin was gone as soon as it came, the pain causing her to bite down on her lower lip so hard, she drew a little bit of blood. 

"What?" the nurse asked her in confusion and a little bit of horror. 

"Or pinch you really hard, because that might make me feel better," Lorelai suggested instead with gritted teeth. Oh, this was the worst cramp yet. 

"No, you cannot hit me." The nurse now seemed kind of annoyed with the sixteen-year-old. 

"Can I bite you or pull your hair or use the Epilady on you 'cause I really need to do something." she breathed out, out of breath from all the pain she was in. Alas, the cramps were not the worst of it, but the arrival of her cranky parents instead. 

"Lorelai Gilmore!" She heard her mother's voice yelling from the end of the hall. 

"Wheel this a little faster, please," she begged the nurses, but they only seemed to do the opposite and move a little slower. Or her mom had suddenly turned into an Olympic racer and had reached them really, really fast. 

"Lorelai, you do not do this. You do not just leave a person a note." her mother complained. "Dear Mom and Dad, I'm in labor. See you later, Lorelai" she read the letter and Lorelai prayed really hard that her parents would just disappear. She moaned in pain as another huge cramp hit her, but in all honesty part of the moan was due to her mother's annoying presence. 

"Emily, please, I feel ridiculous," her father was mumbling, struggling to catch up with his wife. 

"You're having a baby – do you know that, Lorelai?" 

"Well, that explains the stomachache," she muttered sarcastically.

 " You do not leave your house when you are having a baby without telling your mother. You say, "Excuse me, Mom. I'm having a baby, give me a ride to the damn hospital!" her mother continued with her little rant, Lorelai rolling her eyes at her. 

" Emily, please, I wore the wrong shoes for this. " Richard was still complaining and Lorelai was honestly angry at him. The least he could have done was show that he cared a little. She knew deep down that he did and it would hurt him to really face the problem, but it sucked that he did not want to face it at all. 

" Of all the things in the world I had a right to do, driving my daughter to the hospital to give birth, especially since she's sixteen years old and doesn't have her driver's license yet, is definitely one of them." 

The nurse interjected then and Lorelai had never been more thankful for anyone her whole entire life. " Ma'am, I need to wait out here, please. " 

Emily was taken aback and gave the nurse a look of confusion and annoyance. "Why?" She demanded. 

"because we're going into the delivery room," the nurse explained. Lorelai was impressed at the nurses and the way they were putting up with her parents. If she hadn't been in so much pain, she would have been way angrier at her mother right now. 

"But I want to go in!" She exclaimed and Lorelai looked at her with her eyes wide and pleading. 

"No, Mom, please." She begged her. 

"Yes, Emily, please." Richard sighed and Lorelai was thankful for his presence right then. 

"Fine, we'll be right here when we're done!" of course, she had to have the last word and her way in everything. 

"Super," Lorelai muttered as the nurses wheeled her into the room. 

" And do not think we're finished discussing this, young lady, because we are not! " her mother yelled after her, and she closed her eyes real tight, hoping that the pain, along with her parents, would just go away already. 

The delivery was a big hazy blob in her memory. All she remembered was her swearing like a sailor on leave at the nurses and the doctor, at the pain she was in, and fate for putting her through all this. They had given her ice chips but she had no clue what they were for. They really did not help her in any way but let out a little bit of steam by pelting the nurses with them. That sure was fun.

 While some would have called it the most meaningful experience of their life, to Lorelai, it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite.  

It felt like hours and hours of the nurses telling her to breathe in deeply and begging her to stop throwing the ice chips, and to calm down and stop screaming and swearing like a sailor. She stopped the pelting but the swearing never did. She didn't know how long had passed before the doctor started asking her to push and push. And there she was, laying on her back with her fat belly in front of her, and her swollen ankles on each side of the hospital bed, her butt dangling out of the hospital gown, yelling and crying as she pushed. 

"The baby's head is out! C'mon Lorelai! Push! Push!" The doctor was encouraging her.  And then came the cry. Her back hit the bed and she was crying in relief. She sniffed and breathed in deeply finally relaxing. 

"Congratulations, Lorelai. You have a healthy little baby girl!" The doctor announced at exactly 4:03 am with a smile as the nurse handed her the tiny little thing wrapped in a tiny pink blanket. She sobbed even harder then as the little girl cried too. 

"It's okay, baby girl. Mommy's here. It's gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay," She whispered and pressed a soft kiss to her beautiful daughter's head. Well, in all honesty, the baby resembled a little blob of red with ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes, but she was her little blob of red with ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes and she was in love. 

The nurse came to take the baby away and Lorelai muttered a small no, but the nurse reassured her that they were only going to take her to wash her up and give her the newborn baby checkup. Lorelai was too tired to fight. 

Sometime later, while she was holding the sleeping newborn baby girl in her arms, the smile never leaving her lips, the nurse came for feeding time and asked her what the name of the baby was going to be. After all, she was going to be Baby Gilmore forever. Although, Lorelai did think it had a nice ring to it. She wasn't really sure whether it was her inner feminism kicking in, or the Demerol they had given her, but she found herself saying "Lorelai." 

“Baby Lorelai Gilmore Junior?”

“Lorelai Leigh Gilmore… Yeah,” she said a wide smile spreading on her lips as she smiled down at her perfect little baby. “I mean, men always name their children after themselves, so why can’t women, right?”

The nurse didn’t say anything, simply wrote down the name on the sheet she had and then proceeded to help Lorelai with the feeding.

Her parents came in sometime later and so did Christopher, but it was all a blur to her. She was too tired the whole time and could only muster enough energy to be strong for her daughter.

A few days later, she was finally able to walk. Christopher helped her as they made their way to the nursery. They stood in front of the window staring at their daughter with smiles on their faces.

“She’s pretty,” Chris whispered, with a smile, his fingers on the glass.

“She’s perfect,” Lorelai said, folding her arms over her chest as she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

A few moments in silence passes as the young couple stared at their child.

“So,” Christopher cleared his throat a while later, breaking the silence. “I guess we should get married,” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” Lorelai replied absentmindedly. They had to, didn’t they? It was the right thing to do.

“I love you, Lor,” Chris said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing her forehead. She remained silent, ignoring the tears that burned behind her eyes and threatened to fall. She had to be strong. For baby Lorelai.


	2. The Independence Inn

February 28th, 1986

Lorelai made sure her mom was out at a DAR meeting and her dad was at work before she got out of bed. Ever since Rory was born, they had stopped bothering her when she had overslept, mainly because they thought it was healthy for her and the baby. She didn't think they really cared. She was still thankful for that. She liked sleeping in until noon sometimes, especially since Rory wouldn't let her sleep soundly on most nights. Since her first birthday though, she had been less and less restless and it was like heaven to Lorelai when her baby girl slept through half the night at least.

Five months until her marriage to Christopher. She had been convincing herself for almost two years now that it was what was the right thing to do. She loved Chris anyway, so it would have been so bad. If only she really believed that. She knew it would have never lasted. They were way too young and had so much to experience first. They were parents, yes. But the whole "married and living together" thing? Not Lorelai's thing. And she was sure it was not really Christopher's thing, as much as he willing to do it. And Chris working for her father? That was bound to end terribly. Chris was not a "sit behind a desk" kind of guy. Not yet at least. He would try, for her sake, and for Rory's sake, and their parents' sake, but it would have ended horribly. She knew it. Christopher knew it. Her parents knew it. Hell, even Rory knew it. No one ever said anything though.

She got out of bed and made her way to Rory's crib. She was awake, her big blue eyes blinking at her mother and she grinned up at her, making grabby hands. She had the pacifier in and she was calm. Lorelai silently thanked God as she smiled down at her daughter, picking her up in her arms. She pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, taking in the smell of baby shampoo. It smelled so good that she tried once. It didn't work the same on adults, but for a while, it did smell great.

Chris came over after school. Lorelai was sitting in the backyard with a cup of coffee when he got there, and he leaned in to kiss her. She didn't reciprocate.

"Hey, you okay...?" he wondered, looking down at her with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Uhm yeah... just a little tired," she lied. That wasn't the reason why she was feeling so queasy.

"Alright." He didn't press on the subject, and she let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she was holding in this whole time. "So where's Rory? I wanna say bye to her before heading home. You're coming to dinner tonight, right?"   
"Yeah, Christopher. I'll be there. What else do I have?" She said and he chuckled, nodding his head. She had a lot to do. "Rory's in the nursery with the maid, she was changing her diaper." She told and he smiled, standing up. He kissed her forehead and mumbled a later before going back inside. A few minutes later, she heard the front door close and his car starting up. She let out a sigh and made her way back inside.

She did not waste any time. She grabbed two backpacks and filled them with all of Rory's baby clothes and other necessities. She put in a few things for herself too, but of course, Rory was her priority. She grabbed her coat and the rest of her pocket money and made her way to the nursery.

"Hi," she smiled at the maid who looked at her questioningly. "We're just going to the park!" she announced with feigned excitement in her tone. "Yeah, baby girl! We're going to have some fun!" She smiled down at Rory, pushing back the tears that threatened to fall. She held her tight in her arms and walked down the stairs, bags on her shoulder.

Walking into her father's study, she grabbed a pen and paper, hesitating a little as she realized this was going to be the last time in a long while before she'd be in here again. She sniffled and started writing.

Mom, Dad,  
I'm so sorry. I can't do this anymore. Please, I hope you understand. It's what best for Rory. I promise we're going to be okay. Don't try to find us. I'll stay in touch.

She wiped the tear that was streaming down her cheek hesitating a little before she wrote the next few words.

I love you.   
~Lorelai.

She placed the note on the table in the foyer and wiped her eyes, smiling brightly at Rory, who looked up at her with her big, innocent, oblivious blue eyes and walked out the door. This was it. For a long time, this was going to be the last she'd ever lay eyes on the huge manor. And for the first time ever, she no longer felt so small, as though she was cowering before the grandness of all things Gilmore related. The house included.   
She walked for a little while until she had reached the bus station and got on the first one that arrived. She didn't know where she was going to go, but it didn't really matter to her as long as it was away from Hartford and her parents and her old life. She was going to get her fresh start and she was going to be happy. She was going to make sure that Rory would want for nothing, and need nothing, and most importantly, show her how much she truly is loved and make her the happiest baby in this universe. She was going to make sure of it and no one could have stopped her right then. Lorelai Victoria Gilmore was fierce, and she was stubborn, a trait she had inherited from her mother, and probably the only trait she didn't mind sharing with Emily Gilmore. She was going to get what she wanted. And that was her happiness and her daughter's happiness.

She sat down in the very back of the bus near the window, Rory sound asleep in her lap. She stuffed her nose into her daughter's hair, smiling at the soft smell of her baby shampoo and pressed gentle kisses on her head. "It's going to be okay, baby girl. We're going to be just fine. I promise." She whispered to her daughter over and over again, but she knew deep down inside she was only trying to convince herself. Maybe if she had stayed, she could have been happy. She would have been rich and she would be able to provide for Rory easily. But isn't providing her happiness also her duty? She refused to let her daughter grow up in misery the way she had. No, Rory was going to have the best childhood that she couldn't have. No Baptismal dresses with 12 petticoats, no getting scolded at the very young age of 2 for getting grape juice all over that dress, no toys that she couldn't play with because they weren't up to their standards. Well, she did quite like her old doll house. But that was beside the point. No fancy food and fancy parties and annoying ass obnoxious rich people. Just a low-key life with down to earth people. That was the life she wanted for Rory and herself and they were getting it no matter the cost.

She had fallen asleep during the bus ride. She woke up to the driver speaking through the intercom. "Stars Hollow." He said as the bus stopped. Lorelai figured she would get down here. It seemed like a decent town and she didn't want to waste more money on the bus fare. She grabbed her things and carried Rory out of the bus and stood in front of the busy town. There was a gazebo nearby. She walked up to it and sat down, staring at an old man, yelling a boy who seemed to be around her age, maybe slightly older, wearing a plaid shirt and a black baseball cap backward.

"See, Rory, you're never going to have to put up with your impossible grandparents scolding you left and right for no reason. You'll only get scolded for throwing up on my favorite Police t-shirt," she smiled at Rory, making weird faced at her to make her laugh, which she did and it made Lorelai cheer up a little bit. Her daughter had the most precious laugh in the world. She could sit there listening to it forever and she would be the happiest woman alive.

The boy she was staring at was mumbling under his breath as he approached the gazebo, something about, "Taylor Doose is a freaking maniac, I'm gonna kill that poor old bastard someday," he flopped down beside her and Rory, taking no notice to them. He fixed his baseball cap and sighed, trying to calm down. He glanced at Lorelai then, looking at her in confusion. He didn't say anything at first, but upon noticing her blue eyes rimmed red from all the crying, he asked her in a gentle voice, "are you okay, there?" he glanced slightly at a yawning Rory, almost uneasy.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm great," She muttered, letting out a small chuckle. "Peachy keen,"

"Hey, Lucas, come and give your old man a hand, will ya?" an old man popped his out from a shop and the boy beside her got up and started walking toward the man.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he turned around to ask her again, and she just nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." she sighed, pushing her hair behind her ear. "Well, actually, uhm, do you know where we can find a place to crash for a few days?" She asked him, cocking her head to the side a little and he nodded.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "if you walk that way, right outsida town, you'll find an Inn, The Independence Inn, I think you'll be able to stay there comfortable." He said, sending her a small smile, before running back to the old man.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him genuinely for the first time in a long while and started walking in the direction he had shown her. She walked for about thirty minutes, holding a baby and two bags was not exactly all that easy. But when she finally made it, she was out of breath and Rory had started crying. She groaned as she sat down on the porch with Rory in her lap trying to calm her down. When she wouldn't stop crying, she pulled a biscuit from her bag and gave it to her to munch on. That seemed to do the trick and she sighed, kissing her cheek. "You gotta make this easier on me kid, help me get through this, please," she mumbled, letting out a chuckle as she stared down at her daughter, happily eating. "Yeah, you're just like your mom aren't you? give you some food, and you're good to go," she laughed, shaking her head a little. It was getting dark outside and no one seemed to take any notice of her, or at least if they did, they did not seem to care much. When the sun had set, Rory was asleep in her arms and Lorelai was about to go inside to see if she could get a room for them, but just as she was about to stand up, a hand gentle was set on her shoulder. She looked up, her eyes meeting soft grey ones. The lady seemed to be around her mother's age, a thin old lady with short white hair.

"Are you okay, dear?" she asked, her eyes soft and her smile warm and reassuring. And for once, there wasn't any pity or sorry in her eyes. Just actual worry for her. It took her by surprise, but it also made her feel safe, as though she had come to the right place. Lorelai found herself tired of lying and answering yes every time anyone asked if she was okay, because the truth is, she wasn't. She was cold, she was tired and she was sad. Gosh, she was so sad. But right then, right in that second, she knew that she wouldn't be for long. That everything would be better and she and Rory would be happy.

"No," she replied honestly with a laugh. "I'm really not okay," she said, ignoring the tears that started falling from her eyes for the umpteenth time that same day. "You know, you live with uptight parents your whole life, and you think it's fine, you can make it until your eighteenth birthday, you can survive till then, and then you'll be able to leave and they couldn't do anything about it. But then, you meet a boy. And you fall in love, and he loves you back, and you give each other everything. And you get pregnant. And your parents never look at you the same. They see you as more of an embarrassment than ever. And they never fail to keep on reminding you every single chance they get. And then you're supposed to get married. You know, they say getting pregnant at 16 would be the end of your life, but no, getting married to Christopher would have been the end of my life. Everyone knew it. But it was the right thing to do, right? So that Richard and Emily could keep their lovely image intact. I couldn't do it. I can't do that to Rory," she took a deep breath then, staring in the stranger's eyes, she had sat down next her sometime during her long speech while rubbing comforting circles on the small of her back. She wiped aggressively at her eyes, sniffing hard. She felt ridiculous, crying like that, but she did not really care.

"Rory," The old lady smiled widely. "Is that her name?" she asked, holding her hands out to hold Rory.

"Uhm, yeah, short for Lorelai. That's my name too," she laughed a little at the lady's surprised face.

"Oh? how come?" she asked genuinely interested in her story.

"Well, I was sitting there in the hospital bed, dosed up on pain meds, and I was thinking, well my inner feminism was, that why is it only men that name their children after themselves? If they can do it, women can too, right? So I thought Lorelai was a good name. Not too cocky, right?" she laughed and the old lady laughed too.

"Well, it's really nice to meet you Lorelai. And you too, Lorelai," she said with a wide smile at both girls. "Well I'm Mia, and I own this lovely Inn,"

"It really is a lovely place," Lorelai agreed with her. She was a little shy and reluctant now to ask for favors. With her pocket money, she knew she could never afford a room for a night here.

"You need a place to crash, don't you?" Mia asked and Lorelai nodded, refusing to meet her gaze.

"And I'm guessing you don't have any money, so you're going to need a work too, am I right?"

"Yeah..." Lorelai mumbled quietly, looking down at her feet.

"Well then, you've come to the right place," Mia stood up and held her hand out to help Lorelai up. She took her hand nervously and got up, Mia helping her with her bags. They walked inside, the young teen chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

"You're not... you're not gonna call the cops... or my parents, right?" she asked a little scared, and Mia gasped, a look of betrayal on her face.

"See, now why would I do that? You came here in search of refuge, and I'm here to give it to you. I'm not here to judge you or teach you any lessons seeing as we both know that you know better what is best for you. I'm only here to help you out," She said genuinely, her hand cupping Lorelai's face gently, a motherly touch she could only associate with the one time she fell and scraped her cheek on the gravel while running around the house when she was five.

"Thank you," Lorelai could only muster to say as more tears fell down, and a heavy sob escaped her lips.   
"Oh, now, now, come on, hon, let it all out," Mia comforted her with a hug and gentle rubs on her back. "it's alright, sweetheart. You're safe here,"

When her sobs had finally died down, they sat down on the couches in the main lobby and Mia looked into her blue eyes, the younger woman dreading the next question. "Just... I need to know, you're not in trouble, are you? I mean, I won't be in any trouble? Can you promise me that?"

Lorelai nodded her head, her eyes wide, raw emotion in them. If you looked deep into them, you could see her broken self. "Yes, of course, I- I promise. The only people I'm in trouble with are my parents, a-and maybe Christopher, but I'm okay. I promise you won't be in any trouble. No one knows I'm here anyway. Except for that one guy that told me about then Inn-," She started rambling but Mia only shushed her quietly and smiled at her, placing her hands on top of hers.

"It's okay, dear. I trust you." She told her and Lorelai visibly relaxed. She knew she was going to be okay here. "You can work here as a maid and you two will stay in the old potting shed. Well it's been renovated lately and I think if we get you a bed and a few other commodities you'll be alright," she explained. Lorelai jumped then and hugged her really tightly. She couldn't have been any more thankful.

"Oh, don't worry about it, sweetheart. It's alright," Mia laughed, petting her hair softly. "oh, you two are going to be alright," she reassured them and for once, Lorelai truly believed these words.

Mia let the two Lorelais sleep in an empty bedroom that day and tomorrow she would get someone help her clean up the shed and get it ready for her to live in.

That night, Lorelai slept soundly for the first time in so many nights. She tucked in Rory beside her and held her so tight to her chest as they both fell asleep soundly. She was going to be okay, and she truly believed it.


	3. The Birthdays

April 25, 1986

Lorelai had finally turned 18. Neither her parents nor Christopher or anyone from her old life had tried to contact her in any way. She did feel a little guilty about not calling them back too, she did promise her parents she would stay in touch in the letter she had left them. She tried calling them during the first few weeks that had followed, but she always found herself setting the phone back down. She just couldn't in any way confront her parents. She really hoped they understood that.

Mia had surprised her with a small cake and some candles that morning, her co-workers at the Inn all joining in to wish her a happy birthday, and it really was the happiest birthday ever. Just last week, she had received the perfect present anyone could have ever asked for. Rory had taken her first steps! Mia was there snapping a million pictures of Rory walking around the inn and stumbling into furniture, of Lorelai laughing and crying, trying to stop her daughter from tumbling to the ground, but all in all, it was the happiest time of her life.

She was carrying Rory on her hip when she walked into the kitchen that morning on her birthday, hoping to get a cup of coffee before she had to start work. To her surprise, everyone was in there huddled up over a simple cake with a candle in the middle, singing happy birthday the minute she had walked in. Of course, it made her super emotional, and she let out happy tears into Mia's shoulder as she hugged her tightly.

"Happa Bappa," Rory was mumbling and everyone laughed.

"Oh, just look at this precious little angel! She's trying to wish you a happy birthday! She's too smart. I'm telling you, she is a genius. She's going to be the Einstein of our generation. You just remember my words," Mia was gushing, pinching and kissing Rory's cheeks, the baby just scrunching up her nose in the adorable way that she did.

"I have no doubt," Lorelai said with a wide, happy grin. She knew that her daughter was going to make her a very proud mother. She already was, and that wasn't going to change no matter what.

Mia absolutely refused to let Lorelai work that day, telling her that she was to take a break and enjoy her first day of adulthood, although, to Lorelai, she felt as though she'd been an adult ever since she had found out that she was going to be a mother.

She wasn't even sure exactly how Mia knew it was her birthday, she couldn't remember mentioning it, but honestly, she didn't really care.

When the night finally came, Lorelai was lying in bed on her side, thinking of how her birthday would have been like, had she stayed in Hartford with her parents. Big, elegant, extravagant, boring, and horrible. The drinks wouldn't have been so bad though. She was sure her parents would have bought the most expensive bottles of champagne they would have found. Everyone she had ever met would have probably been there. The pile of presents would have been as tall as the ceiling. The food would have been well, rich. She decided that she had much preferred having a burger at the Independence Inn.

She didn't know what had come over her but she suddenly found herself dialing the number of her home. It rang, once, twice, and then came her mother's voice.

"Hello?" she said in her cheerful tone. Lorelai could hear the fakeness. It was well after ten pm. Emily was probably cursing the caller in her head like a sailor.

"Hello? Who is this?" She asked again, but Lorelai found it hard to form words.

"Emily, who's on the phone?" came her father's voice from somewhere in the back.

"If this is one of you teenagers pulling a joke, well it's not funny! I will call the cops!" Emily threatened and Lorelai cracked a small smile. Typical Emily.

No one said anything for a few seconds though, and no one hung up. Then, Emily broke the silence.

"Lorelai..." she started. "Is it you?"

Lorelai found herself sniffling but the lump in her throat made it really hard to breathe, let alone utter a single word.

"Lorelai..." her mother's voice was quiet. She cleared her throat before adding the words, "Happy eighteenth birthday."

The line went dead and Lorelai set the phone back down, burying her face in her knees. Well, at least her mother knew she was alright now. She doubted that she had even cared whether or not she was doing alright all this time anyway, but she would much rather like to believe that it had reassured Emily Gilmore to know that her daughter was alive on her 18th birthday.

She had tossed and turned in bed that night until finally, she had fallen asleep. She didn't know why, but hearing her mother's voice had brought her little comfort. And that made her feel even weirder.

She tried her best to completely forget the incident of the phone call or at least tried her best to completely ignore it for the next couple of weeks. Eventually, she was able to stop thinking of it during the day, but when she had stopped working and was lying in bed, she had acquired the habit of grabbing the phone and twirling the cord in her hands without dialing any numbers.

Summer arrived and left in the blink of an eye, and Rory's second birthday was approaching quickly. She was getting bigger and was starting to make more sense when trying to communicate with Lorelai. She would yell, "Namnam," when she was hungry, or simply say "poo," when she had just pooped or had to poop. She also loved crying when Lorelai did not dress her in her favorite t-shirt that had a butterfly on it. On some days, she wouldn't notice or simply forget about it, and Lorelai was grateful, but when she did realize that she wasn't wearing that shirt, she would cry and yell "Buttfly," because she had found that pronouncing butterfly was really hard. Lorelai would then distract her with a Twinkie and candy until she had found the shirt that was more often or not in the hamper with the rest of the dirty clothes.

October 8th came fast and Lorelai knew what she had to do on that day. She knew that she could always hide from her old family, but she couldn't steal Rory away from it, well at least not the people in it. She had no right to refuse her father from being in her life nor parents because after all, they were her family. She bit her lip nervously that morning as she fumbled with the phone, taking deep breaths.

"Okay, Lorelai. You can do this." She was cheering herself on. She took one last deep breath before dialing Christopher's number. He had every right to greet his daughter on her birthday and well, maybe it was finally time that everyone knew where she was. After all, she was 18 now and no one could force her to do anything any longer.

The phone rang a couple of times before a maid picked up. She was quiet for a while, hoping that the maid would just hang up but she didn't, handing the phone to someone instead. Not so surprisingly, it was Christopher. She let out a shaky breath and started the conversation before he could say anything because she knew that if he had said anything first she would have instantly hung up.

"Hey, Chris," she said, her voice breaking a little at the end. She could hear a sharp intake of breath coming from the other end. In her head, she could see Christopher's face, probably with brown eyes big and wide and mouth hanging open as he tried to think of what to say next and process what was going on. She could still hear him thinking over the phone even if they were towns away from each other. It was one of her specialties when it came to Chris. She could read him like an open book.

"Lorelai..." He said letting out a small chuckle, "I can't- I can't believe it's you! Are you okay? Is everything okay? Rory, Rory? Is she with you? Oh my God, Lorelai, is she okay? Did something happen?" She wasn't surprised that he thought Lorelai had only called because she had needed something desperately. After all, he was the one who had appreciated her independence the most.

"Chris, we're okay. We're great, uhm Rory's two!" she said with a small laugh. She was beyond excited that her daughter was growing up. It felt just like yesterday she was lying down on that hospital bed, pelting nurses with ice chips and swearing like a sailor on leave.

"Oh my gosh," Christopher whispered, "Lorelai, I know. You have no idea how bad I wanted to call but, I didn't know where to call and well I felt completely useless and-,"

"It's okay Christopher," she said quietly, a sad smile on her lips. "It's not your fault."

"Yeah..." he breathed. A silence fell between them for a few seconds, but they felt like hours. Neither one of them knew what to say but there were so many words that needed to be said but couldn't be formulated into coherent sentences, but they both knew what they were, and so they did not hang up, only listened to their breathing and each other's thoughts.

"Can I- can I talk to Rory? Well, can she talk?" Christopher asked after a while, finally deciding to break the silence.

"Uhm, yeah, yeah, she can say poopoo and buttfly, and you know, a bunch of other stuff," she said with a laugh and a smile as she carried Rory who was playing on the floor beside her with her doll and sat her down on her lap.

"Buttfly?" Christopher said in confusion, laughing a little at the funny word. "a butt that can fly?" he tried to decipher what the baby meant by that word and that only made Lorelai laugh harder. She had thought of that too when Rory had first said it, but then figured out it meant butterfly when she saw Rory pointing at the shirt in the closet.

"Butterfly," She explained, "But 'r's are still difficult for her to pronounce so she somehow found a shortcut to make the word easier. She really loves her buttflies," She said with a laugh when Rory looked up upon hearing what seemed to be her favorite word. "Do you wanna, wanna talk to her?" she asked in a shy tone.

"Uhm, yeah, if she doesn't mind?"

Lorelai handed the phone to Rory who put it to her ear, yelling "Hello," into the phone. She never missed the opportunity to yell that to new people ever since she had learned to say the word. "It's your daddy! Yeah, baby girl, say hi to your daddy!" Lorelai said and smiled as Rory looked at her a little confused and the proceeded to try and pronounce the word "daddy".

A wave of sadness then hit Lorelai as she realized that her daughter didn't really know who her father was. She knew that Christopher would never be a constant in her life, he just wasn't the kind of person to settle, and as hard as he would have tried because he really did love Lorelai and Rory, that she could never doubt, it just simply wasn't in his nature to do so, and she couldn't put Rory through that much pain. But she decided then, that she would know her father because it would be much worse if she never did.

She took the phone back from Rory after a few minutes of her babbling incoherently into the phone and Christopher laughing on the other end at her cuteness. She cleared her throat and said, "Hey Chris, Rory and I, we're not far from Hartford. We're at this place called the Independence Inn. You could uhm, you could drop by if you liked..." there was silence for a while on both ends.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll visit you soon, if that's cool?" he said in a tone that was a little unsure, only confirming Lorelai's thoughts about this whole situation with her daughter's father.

"Yeah, of course, it's cool. Just- Just don't tell my parents about our whereabouts just yet. I will when I'm ready." She said in a pleading tone and Christopher muttered a "sure. I won't say anything." They bid goodbye and the line went dead.

Lorelai set the phone back in its place and stared down at her daughter who was playing with one of her children's book that Mia had bought her. Mia really spoiled the little girl rotten and it made Lorelai feel a little bad because she couldn't afford to buy many things for her daughter. She was saving all the money she was earning at the Inn toward a better life in the future. She was still thankful for all that Mia was doing for them. She would have never made it thus far if it weren't for that sweet lady. She looked at Rory, smiling sadly at her as she was mumbling "dada".

The rest of the day was spent with everyone around the Inn spoiling Rory with presents and kisses and cake and candy. Lorelai told them that they didn't have to do anything but they all loved Rory so much they couldn't help themselves.

She couldn't sleep that night though. She was tossing and turning and feeling slightly guilty for stealing Rory away from her father and grandparents. She knew she shouldn't feel guilty. Both of them were better off far away from that life. But she still couldn't push away that gnawing feeling. She found herself sometime after midnight at the small desk in the shed, holding a pen and paper and writing a letter to her parents telling them all about Rory and how she was growing up so quickly and how smart she was becoming. She told them about her first word and her first steps and her favorite butterfly t-shirt and her favorite book that had all kinds of animals in it, and her love for cake and how Rory would cry every time she was set barefoot on the grass outside when Lorelai would take her for walks. She didn't mention their current living situations, or her job, because she knew her mother would find a way to drag them back to Hartford. But on the back of the letter, she wrote the address of the Independence Inn. She put the piece of paper in an envelope and sent it first thing in the morning.

She never got a reply from her parents. She hadn't even heard back from Christopher. No one called or sent letters, and she didn't really mind the silence that came from Hartford. Then came December.

On December 23rd, she got a call while she was working in the morning. She was busy fixing the bed in one of the room's when her coworker knocked on the door.

"There's someone on the phone for you, Lorelai." The receptionist told her. Lorelai was beyond confused. No one had ever called her here.

"Who is it?" she asked the other lady as they walked back to the lobby. Her coworker shrugged and mumbled, "Didn't say," before going back to working on some papers.

Lorelai put the phone to her ear and cleared her throat before speaking. "Hello?" she said quietly, a little nervous quite frankly. She had no clue what to expect from such a mysterious phone call.

"Lorelai, it's your mother, I'm calling to tell you that you and Rory are invited to Christmas dinner tomorrow. It won't be big. There will be pudding. Dress nicely." Her mother's voice came through the phone. Her tone was serious and certain and didn't falter at all. Not what someone may expect after having run away from home and not spoken to their mother in almost a year.

"Mom..." her voice was quiet, and it cracked at the end. This was the last thing she had expected. She had gone so far as to think she had accidentally won the lottery but never did the thought of her mom calling to invite her to the annual Christmas family dinner cross her mind.

"So, are you free?" her mother asked, and she could see her in her head tapping her fingers on the table impatiently with her right eyebrow raised.

"Y-yes, I'm free," Lorelai replied, still incredibly confused about this whole situation.

"Great! Then we'll see you tomorrow! Goodbye, Lorelai," she hung up before Lorelai could reply.

"B-Bye, mom," Lorelai whispered after she had hung up and put the phone back in its place.

"What just happened?" she muttered, pushing her hair away from her face. She stood there so still for what seemed like forever trying to comprehend what had just happened to her, but none of it made sense.

No contact in about 10 months, and then she was being invited over for dinner in the most formal tone her mother could muster. This was the most ridiculous thing to have ever happened to her. She didn't know why, but she found herself laughing so hard her sides hurt. Typical Emily Gilmore. She doubted her father even knew about this whole thing. Oh, this was going to be a disaster. She just knew it. And for some reason, the thought of it being a disaster just made her laugh harder and harder. People were looking at her like she was some crazy lady, but she couldn't stop. Mia came up to her, trying to figure what was so funny. She had never seen Lorelai laugh that hard. Maybe no one ever has. She tried explaining the situation to her but she was having a very hard time trying to formulate words.

Her laughter died a while later though and she found herself burying her face in her hands, trying to take in deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"So? Are you going to tell me what was so funny that you managed to scare away my loyal customers?" Mia asked her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

Lorelai sighed as she looked up at her and shrugged. "Well, nothing was technically funny," she explained and this time Mia looked at her like she really was crazy. "It's more like- super ridiculous."

"What is?"

"My mother inviting me over to the annual Christmas family dinner."

"Oh, wow," Mia was as shocked as Lorelai had been just moments ago.

"Yep. This is going to be a disaster." She sighed again, rubbing her face.

"Wait, you said yes?" was Lorelai growing a second head? Why was Mia looking at her like that?

"Well, I had no choice. She practically forced me! Typical Emily Gilmore. She was all like 'are you free?' Yes, I'm free! What better thing do I have to do? Nothing. I totally fell for her trap. I say yes, she says great, she'll see me tomorrow. Did I have a choice? I did not. And that is how vicious Emily Gilmore really is. Oh, the almighty Satan has nothing on Emily Gilmore!" Lorelai ranted in anger now. "Oh, this is going to be just horrible!"

"Oh, dear. I'm so sorry. Oh, you'll get through this. It'll be over before you know it!" Mia tried to reassure her, giving her shoulders a light, comforting squeeze.

"I really hope so," Lorelai was now chewing on the inside of her cheeks nervously.

That night she tossed and turned all night and didn't get a single wink of sleep. Mia let her borrow her car to drive herself and Rory back to Hartford for the evening and man, was it a horrible ride. Some soft 80's rock music was playing in the back and Rory had fallen asleep in the car seat. But Lorelai couldn't stop making up all sorts of scenarios that may happen that night. When she had finally arrived at the old house, she parked the car and sat there for a good ten minutes, tapping her fingers nervously on the steering wheel. Rory had woken up when the car stopped and she was making soft gurgling noises. Lorelai was thinking that it wasn't too late to drive away and make it seem like she had never shown up in the first place, and she was about to if it weren't for the car that had parked next to her right then and there. She looked to the side and was shocked to see that it was none other than Christopher himself. He stared back at her, their eyes locking for a good minute before one of them even dared to move. It was Christopher who had decided to break their staring contest. He got out of his car and walked toward Lorelai's.   
The young mother smoothed her hair back nervously, and got out of the car, facing the man before her. He cleared his throat, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"Hi..." He spoke up, his voice sounding a little bit choked. He faked a cough, probably trying to clear his throat, his eyes avoiding Lorelai's at all cost.

"Hey..." she replied back, her voice sounding so small. She hated that. Gosh.

"New car?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow. Man, did she hate small talk! It was the most awkward thing on earth. Lorelai did not do awkward. Lorelai did the whole thirteen-thousand-words-in-less-than-two-seconds kind of interesting conversations.

"Uh, no, not really. I borrowed it from uh, Mia, a- a friend," she hesitated a little, not quite sure how to introduce Mia. Was she her friend? Or more like that one aunt that you were closer to than your own folks? She wasn't sure, but friend seemed like a good word for their relationship. She loved Mia and was eternally grateful for all that she has done for her and for Rory.

"Oh... Cool," He cleared his throat again, his sight finally catching Rory's and he smiled softly, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "She looks so big now,"

"Yeah, she's growing up really fast," Lorelai said quietly, her tone a little happier. There was nothing that made her feel better than her daughter did. She walked over to the backseat and helped her out of her baby seat and settled her gently on her feet. The little girl hung to her mother's leg, shyly looking up at the man.

Christopher crouched down to her level, smiling softly at his daughter.   
"Hey kiddo," he whispered gently, poking her side, making her giggle a little.

He carried her up in his arms, glancing a little to the side to see Lorelai's reaction. She didn't say or do anything. She only watched with a small smile as her daughter tried to hide her face in her tiny hands in shyness. Christopher eventually got Rory to be more comfortable around him and she was all smiling and giggling and it was truly like music to Lorelai's ears. She would truly give anything to make her daughter laugh all the time. A few minutes had passed and they were still standing outside. They soon realized that they probably should go inside to get this night over with and walked silently to the front door. Lorelai rang the doorbell, a foreign action that made her feel slightly awkward. She was used to using the house key, which of course she had kept at home when she had run off. She tugged nervously at the hem of her simple black dress as she felt her heart beating a million miles a second and her palms start sweating. Man, oh man, this was the most terrible idea in the universe.

An unfamiliar face opened the door for them, a new maid. She offered to take their coats and placed them on the coat hanger before leading the way to the living room area where loud voices and laughter was coming from, soft classical music playing in the back. Rory was clinging to her mother's dress, probably feeling as distressed as she was in this foreign place. She had never felt more of an outsider in this household as she was right at that moment. She glanced at Christopher who looked just as uncertain about this whole thing as she was.

"It'll be alright," he whispered, sending her a smile that was supposed to reassure her, but it only made her feel worse about this whole ordeal. It was very clear in his eyes and his tone that he was trying to convince himself more than Lorelai. 

She swallowed, took a deep breath and walked into the room. At first, it was all normal, as though nobody had really taken any notice to the new arrivals. But then she met her mother's eyes, who was having a deep conversation with one of the guests. Emily Gilmore stood there with her mouth slightly agape, staring at the people in the doorway completely speechless.

"Hi!" Lorelai said in a forced, chirpy tone, completely ignoring her heart practically beating out of her chest and her mind yelling at her to run the other way. She walked into the room instead, toward her mother who seemed to have composed herself.

"Lorelai?" her father was first to speak, completely shocked. Yep, she knew it. Emily hadn't told Richard. The other people in the room seemed oblivious to all the tension in the room. Her parents had probably hidden the fact that their daughter had run away with their grandchild. "And Christopher..." He raised an eyebrow at his wife, silently yelling at her for putting him in this awkward position.

Richard Gilmore cleared his throat, standing up straight, and seeming even taller than Lorelai had remembered. Gosh, did she feel small in here! He sent them both a forced smile and went over to greet them. Emily, meanwhile, was still silent. Her eyes were glued on the tiny toddler who was looking around the place with her big blue eyes wider than ever, taking in every scary little detail about the grand house and the grand people in it.

"Dad! Hello! I bought a present!" Lorelai said with that grin that practically screamed ' I'm so nervous, someone please get me out of here before I combust into flames. '

She pulled Rory in front of her, encouraging her to greet her grandparents and the rest of the guest. She was hesitant at first, but when Lorelai smiled at her reassuringly, the baby girl started mumbling "Hello," in her adorable and soft baby voice.

All the guest cooed and aww'ed at her cuteness and well, in that exact moment, Lorelai felt a tiny bit proud and cocky. She made that adorable little thing. The little angel was the amazing fruit of her loins.

She looked up, locking eyes with her mother, who was still very silent. She had the ghost of a smile traced on her lips though, and a glint in her eyes that Lorelai had never seen before. It looked a little bit like... sadness? Lorelai wasn't sure. She couldn't believe that Emily Gilmore could have such emotions anyway. The elder looked away and cleared her throat as she stood up.

"Well, since we're all here now, let's have a lovely dinner!"

Everyone stood up and started walking towards the dining room. Christopher and Richard had started a conversation about business and jobs and other manly stuff that could never really interest Lorelai in the slightest. It probably didn't interest Chris either, but he was always ready to make her parents happy. They really did like him. He was a sweet boy, and as much as they hated the fact that he was the reason behind their daughter bringing 'embarrassment' and 'shame' to the Gilmore name by knocking her up, he was still that same sweet little boy in their eyes.

Lorelai let out a small sigh, thinking that maybe, just maybe the dinner wasn't going to be too bad. She could keep conversations light, and avoid staring directly at her parents or even conversing with them and it would all be alright, right? Wrong!

The first part of the dinner was fine. The few guests at the table that Lorelai was used to seeing every year at the dinner ignored her completely and she didn't mind that at all. She completely welcomed any ignoring from anyone. Sometime during the main course though, Lorelai was watching Rory, who had insisted she wanted to sit next to her grandpa, trying to eat her mashed potatoes. She was getting them all over her napkin, but everyone seemed to find it adorable. Every now and then she would yell "Gapa," and Richard would look at her with that serious expression of his, trying really hard to teach her the correct pronunciation but all his effort was in vain. Rory would end up laughing bursting into fits of giggles at his serious expression and he would sigh in frustration, glancing only slightly at his daughter, probably to make sure that he hadn't gone back in time sixteen years earlier and it was his daughter sitting to his right and not his granddaughter. He could have sworn that they were exactly the same baby. Lorelai was too busy staring at her daughter and dreading the bath time that was coming next. That poor dress that Mia had bought her for her birthday! It was completely butchered.

"Lorelai?" The lady sitting across from her said with a raised eyebrow and Lorelai snapped her attention back to her, her blue eyes wide.

"Huh? I'm sorry, I was a little distracted," she apologized, sending her a polite smile.

Her mother's friend laughed and replied, "It's no worries. I was only saying that it's really brave of you, raising a child and studying. You have inherited your mother's strength, I see."

"Well, actually, I'm n-," she started, feeling her cheeks turn slightly red as she didn't know how exactly to explain the whole situation that her mother had taken all the trouble to hide from the society that she lived in, but Emily cut her off with that fake chuckle of hers.

"Yes, indeed. We, Gilmores, are quite the ladies!" There was soft laughter coming from everyone the table, and Lorelai let out a very obvious fake one. Her mother sent her a glaring look which she gladly returned. She was suddenly filled with anger. Her mother was unbelievable!

"Mother, may I please speak to you?" She found herself saying as she stood up, all eyes following her in confusion. Christopher gave her a look that was yelling "ABORT! ABORT!" but she ignored it. She could hear the sirens coming from him, signaling her that this was possibly a very bad idea, but she didn't get. She needed to get all of this anger off her chest.

"Now?" her mother asked, not even bothering to move. "We're eating, Lorelai. We can talk later." She gave her a look that was actually pleading her not to embarrass them in front of their guests. Lorelai didn't care. She was sick and tired of having to keep appearances for everyone. She honestly couldn't care less what anyone in this room thought of her. Well, except for her daughter. But she knew her daughter would never look at her the same way that everyone on this table had always looked at her, and Rory was the only thing that truly mattered to her anymore.

"Well, I'm sorry but it's really important. It really can't wait any longer." She said with a bit of anger in her tone. She could feel her father's eyes burning holes in her back, trying to figure out what the hell was about to happen. He didn't intervene though, as usual, and she had never been more grateful. She walked out of the dining room area and to her father's study, flashbacks of the last time she had been in there resurfacing. She pushed them away to where all her wanted memories were stacked in her brain and closed the door behind her mother who was complaining.

"What is so urgent that we had to leave in the middle of dinner, leaving our guests behind? Do you want kind of host that makes me? A terrible one!"

"I do not care what kind of host you are, mom. I could care less about that right now!" she spat out in anger as she stared at her mother who was looking anywhere but at Lorelai.

"Why did you even tell me to come, mom? And Christopher. God, why does Christopher have to be here?" She asked her and her mother didn't answer. "I mean, for heaven's sake," she continued her rant, "you can't even look me straight in the eyes! You didn't even greet Rory, your own granddaughter! Are you that ashamed of having us over? Are you that ashamed of us, you couldn't even tell anyone that I wasn't in school anymore! God, we were perfectly fine without this annual crappy dinner!"

Finally, for the first time that evening Emily looked into her blue eyes, and her own had angry flames dancing in them. But behind the dangerous fire, Lorelai could see an emotion so rare she didn't recognize it on her mother's face. Pain. Lorelai herself though was so familiar with it. She could see herself in her mother's face right then. "No, Lorelai, I am not ashamed of having you over! Do you really think I am that bad of a monster? Do you really think I would purposely want to look at my two-year-old granddaughter whom I haven't seen in almost a year and not hug her because I am just that cruel? Well, I am very sorry to inform that I am in fact human and I cannot face reality right now because it will cause me great pain. I can't be vulnerable in public. I really did not want to cause a scene. As usual, though, everything has to be Lorelai Gilmore's way! So a scene it is! You don't want to be here? Fine! No one is forcing you. You have already left once before, you may leave once again!" her mother's voice broke at the end of that sentence. Lorelai hadn't realized that she had started crying.

"Dammit, Mom! That is exactly why I left in the first place! All these expectations, all that social status crap and the keeping good appearances crap! Well, it's all crap, mother! It made me miserable! I couldn't wait to get away from this miserable, sad life that you wanted to force on me so badly! Well, you weren't going to put Rory through that! She is going to grow up like a normal kid and she is going to have a parent that never failed to show her just how much I love her. She won't have to count the days till she could finally leave this place. Gosh, I've been counting the days till I was eighteen ever since middle school!" She cried out loud and her mother looked more furious than she had ever seen her.

"Well, good thing you got your wish early. You were gone before you had even turned eighteen!"

Her mother let out a frustrated sigh as she breathed heavily and stomped toward the door, opening it wide open. "There's the door, Lorelai. If you're so miserable you can't even spend one goddamn dinner with your parents, then there's the door. You may leave." She turned to walk away but then turned back around, a tired expression on her face. "I just hope you realize how much trouble and hurt you have caused both your father and me in the last ten months." She was gone before Lorelai could even reply.

Lorelai sat down in her father's armchair and cried for God knows how long. Maybe minutes, maybe hours, but it sure as heck did feel like forever. There was a knock at the door sometime later and Christopher's head popped in, sending his all too familiar soft smile that had always made her stomach flip.

"Can I come in?" He asked her and she shrugged without saying a thing.

He closed the door and sat down on the chair in front of Richard's desk. "Are you okay?" He said quietly. She could see it in his eyes that he felt a little sad for her.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" She muttered, burying her face in her hands. "Do I suddenly look like an Eva to you? I really feel like I've just been in Autumn Sonata."

 

Christopher raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her ridiculous comment. He smiled at her instead and said, "You still look like the beautiful Lorelai Gilmore I know,"

"Well, you flatter me, Christopher Haden!"

She laid her forehead on the desk letting out a loud and frustrated groan. "How much of the conversation did you hear?" She wondered, her voice slightly muffled because of the position she was currently in, with her face on the mahogany desk.

"Oh, not much!" he replied, with a wave of his hand. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"So basically, all of it?"

He looked at her apologetically, placing a comforting hand on her arm. "I'm sorry, Lor."

"My mom must be incredibly embarrassed right now." She said with a small, bittersweet smile.

"Yeah, she is completely ignoring the fight, but she is burning in her seat right now,"

"Yeah, well, at least now she knows how I've been feeling all my life," Lorelai grumbled. They fell into a silence for a while. She kept on repeating the fight in her head, over and over again.

"I'm going to miss you, Lor," Christopher said out of the blue and Lorelai looked up at him, her train of thought now lost.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm- I'm leaving." He said quietly, looking down at his fiddling fingers.

"Leaving where?" she asked slowly, a frown settling on her face.

He shrugged, "California, maybe? New York? I'm not sure. I don't wanna go to Princeton like Straub and Francine want me to. I want to be free, I want to discover what I want to do with my life. I need to discover what I want to do with my life."

"Oh," she said simply, thinking his words over. She was quiet for a few moments before asking, "What about Rory?"

He didn't say anything. He kept fiddling nervously with his fingers. She knew this would happen. This was exactly why she didn't want him to get close to Rory. He could never, ever be a constant in her life.

She chuckled, shaking her head and folding her arms across her chest.

"Look, I'll call. I'll come visit you at that Inn you work in. But I need to do this for myself, Lorelai! You did it, you took my own daughter away from me to find yourself!"

"Chris, that is exactly why I did! Because I know you, and I knew that you could never settle for the family life that Rory deserves. If you can't be there all the time, you shouldn't bring her hopes up and then crush them. I'm only trying to protect her." Her voice faltered at the end. There was deep sadness in their eyes. Christopher couldn't even fight her on this. He knew she was right. She was always right when it came to them, to him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. She got up and walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and she buried her face in his neck, seeking comfort. But it never came and the uneasy, sad feeling remained heavy on her chest.

When they had finally pulled away from each other, Lorelai wiped her wet cheeks, not realizing she had started crying again. God, she hated being this emotional.

They left the study and walked to the living area only to find Richard, asleep in the armchair and Emily rocking Rory to sleep. The real surprising part though was finding Rory in a pair of pajamas. She raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. It was probably one of her old ones that her mother had probably kept for some odd reason she would never quite understand. Emily looked up when Christopher and Lorelai walked in, but she didn't say a word. It was better than the fight Lorelai thought was going to happen again. She didn't mind silence. She actually found herself welcoming. She was so tired, all she wanted to do was kick back in her comfortable pajamas in the comfortable bed at the Inn in the shed while listening to The Bangles. She had recently found out that Rory loved falling asleep to Lorelai's favorite songs, the songs varying from XTC to U2, even some Guns N Roses. She experimented with all different kinds of bands and much to her surprise, Rory slept better when she played some U2 and not the classic nursery rhymes. It was probably all because of the music she would blast while she was pregnant with Rory. She could only hope that Rory would not grow up to hate these classic bands. Her worst nightmare would be to have a daughter who didn't listen to the good kind of music that she enjoyed listening to. She was guilty of praying every night that her daughter grows up with a good taste in music.

"Well, I guess you're leaving now?" Emily spoke quietly, careful not to wake Richard and Rory.

"Yeah... I need to- we should get back," Lorelai replied, avoiding any eye contact with her mother.

"She's a real angel,"

Lorelai couldn't help the wide smile that spread across her lips. "Yeah, I know,"

Emily looked up then, their eyes meeting, and for once, the only emotion there was contentment. She was content to have her granddaughter asleep in her arms. "You're doing a good job, at raising her,"

To say the words had shocked Lorelai would have been the understatement of the century. Such words had never escaped Emily Gilmore's lips, and not even the angels above or the demons below could have ever anticipated such words coming out of them. Such words may never be heard again coming from the one and only Emily Gilmore. Lorelai was genuinely taken aback by the genuineness in her mother's words.

"Thank you, Mom," she said with a big grin and her mom reciprocated it with a small smile. She didn't expect more. Emily stood up, and handed Rory back to Lorelai, but not before placing a gentle peck on the little girl's forehead.

"I'll- stay in touch," Emily said curtly, nodded at Christopher and walked up the stairs.

Lorelai let out a sigh, shaking her head a little. "That was a very weird moment," She mumbled as she walked out of the room and towards the front door. Richard was somehow still fast asleep in the armchair. She would have liked to say goodbye but she also did not want to wake him up. He might get angry.

Christopher walked the girls to their car, and just before Lorelai got into the driver's seat, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. She didn't fight it, wrapping her arms around his shoulders instead, kissing him back gently. She did miss this. They pulled away after a short while to catch their breaths and Chris leaned his forehead on Lorelai's staring into her deep blue eyes. "I'll always love you, Lorelai Gilmore," he whispered into the cold, quiet night.

Her eyes closed, and she took in the words, absorbing them in. "I'll always love you too," she admitted. All the sorrow, all the pain, the remorse painted their words, and the forgiveness floated silently through the air between them.

Christopher pressed a soft kiss on Lorelai's forehead and then, without a word, turned around and got into his car. She watched drive away and stood there staring at the empty parking space before finally getting in her car and driving back to the Inn just outside the small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. It was a horrible night, as she had predicted, and the soreness in her throat from the screaming battle she had with her mother, and all the crying that had followed was further proof to that. But somehow, sitting there in the driver's seat of the car with Rory fast asleep in the car seat in the back, she felt... serene. In that exact moment, she wasn't angry, she was hateful, nor resentful. She wasn't happy either, nor in a good mood exactly. But she felt serene. For the first time since she had run away all those months ago, she truly felt like it was going to be okay. The Lorelais were going to be okay.


	4. Friends

September 1st, 1989

Rory's first day of Kindergarten.   
Lorelai couldn't remember the last time she was that nervous and excited at the same time. Her baby girl was growing way too fast, but she couldn't be prouder. Rory could already read pages after pages, she could do more math than probably any other kid at her age, she knew some words that Lorelai had probably learned in her tenth grade English class. That kid was an actual genius. She was already dreaming of going to Harvard and becoming the best there ever was. (Her dreams and aspirations changed every day, sometimes even twice a day but she had never even thought twice about Harvard ever since she had turned three.) Sure, it took her over four months to learn how to ride the pink bike with training wheels Mia had bought her for her fourth birthday, but Lorelai had never been sporty herself. She had probably inherited that from her mother.

She looked at her daughter who was wearing her blue sweater that brought out her eyes and her sneakers that lit up with every step. Her hair was tied in pigtails and gosh, Lorelai was about to cry proud tears of joy. She grabbed her daughter and wrapped her arms around her really tight, squishing her against her chest. "Oh, my adorable loin-fruit! Can you stop growing, please?" she gushed as she pulled Rory even closer to her chest.

The little girl over exaggerated having trouble breathing, a technique she had stolen from her mother. "Dying...here..." she said in a choked voice and Lorelai gave her a grumpy face.

"Let me love you, oh, daughter of mine! Let me be proud of you! I mean, it's not every day that I get to see you walk off to your first day of kindergarten!"

"Mommy, it's not a big deal," she tried to reassure her mother with her cute tiny voice but Lorelai could see the worry and nervousness in her daughter's eyes. She had the same look that Lorelai always had.

"Ugh, yes, it is a big deal! It's your first day of school, ever!" she grinned at Rory, pinching her cheeks, a thing she knew her daughter hated with a passion.

"Can we go now? I don't wanna be late," Rory said as she grabbed her tiny blue backpack, slipping it on her back.

"Okay, fine. Ugh, let's go!" Lorelai squeaked, clapping her hands excitedly. Rory gave her a look that said "please don't do that when we get there. I need to make friends."

She held her daughter's hand and together they walked out of the shed. Mia was sitting in front of the Inn working on some papers when they walked Rory ran over to her excitedly. The older lady engulfed her in a hug, kissing the top of her head gently.

"Oh, Rory, I'm so proud of you!" she gushed, ruffling her hair gently, careful not to ruin her pigtails. "Are you nervous?" she asked her and Rory nodded, looking down at her feet.

"A little. What if the other kids are a bit mean?"

"Well, then, you tell them your mom is superwoman. You give them that stern look of yours, and with a serious voice you say, she can smite you! They'll doodoo in their pants!" Lorelai suggested and Rory giggled.

"Mommy, that'll scare them away!" She said and Lorelai rolled her eyes.   
"But then they won't be mean. No one can be mean to Superwoman's daughter. Superwoman will smite them to ash!"

Rory giggled again, the ladies laughing as well.

"Well, your mother's not wrong. She really is Superwoman," Mia said, looking up at Lorelai with a small smile and proud eyes. She looked back at her with a shy smile.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Mia,"

 

Mia let the girls borrow her car so that Lorelai could drop Rory off at the school in the town of Stars Hollow, a few minutes away, and she insisted that that would be the arrangement from now on. So she got in the car, after taking about a hundred pictures with her small camera and drove into town. She hadn't been in there much unless she was in dire need of something. Most of the time, she got all she needed at the Inn, so it wasn't a problem. She was a little familiar, still relatively new though, to the whole place.

The drive was short with The Bangles rocking in the car, the two girls singing along to Walk Like an Egyptian at the top of their lungs. The song was still blasting really loud when Lorelai finally parked the car in front of the school. A lot of parents were dragging their crying kids inside. Her daughter though had to drag her inside. Lorelai was clinging to Rory's tiny hand begging her to stay with her.

"Rory, baby, you don't need kindergarten. You're too smart for kindergarten! You're like Mathilda and everyone in there is like The Trunchbull! You're not safe in there!" She was saying but Rory ignored her, rolling her eyes quite obviously.

"Mom, there are other smart kids too in there, and I will probably have a teacher like Miss Honey,"

"But what if you don't? Then what are we gonna do?"

"Well I'll tell her my mommy is superwoman and she will not hesitate to smite you!" Rory grinned at her mother who only laughed and pulled her in for a tight hug.

"You don't know how proud of you I am, my precious loin-fruit!" Lorelai whispered, pressing a bunch of kisses on Rory's face, making her cringe at her mother. They got out of the car and walked into the school, looking around the foreign place in awe.

"How badly do you have to go to school?"

"The government kind of forces you,"

"Oh, kid, you're too smart for your own good."

They walked over to Rory's class, seeing a bunch of other kids in there already playing together or chatting with the lady who she presumed would be their teacher.

"Yeah, she doesn't seem like a Trunchbull."

She crouched down so that she was at eye level with her kid, their matching blue eyes locking. "I love you so much, Lorelai," she told her with a grin that Rory returned.

"I love you too, Lorelai!" she said with a giggle.

"Alright, I think you got to let me go now. I'm not sure twenty-one-year-olds are allowed in there."

Rory wrapped her arms really tightly around her mother's neck. A bell rang and Lorelai knew that it was her queue to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you today?"

Rory shook her head no. "You'll be fine without me for a few hours!"

"Whoa, you really have inherited my best trait! Don't be too cocky in there, kid. Some kids are slow. They'll feel bad!"

Rory laughed and hugged her mom again before walking into the classroom. Lorelai found herself glued to the ground, having a hard time turning and walking away. She stood there staring at her daughter settle down on one of the tiny chairs in the classroom next to another tiny girl with glasses. The two kids started talking and Rory seemed to be ranting, probably telling the story of how she was named after her mother as she usually did every time she would meet someone new. The other kid seemed to be actually interested in the story and offered Rory her crayons. The two were talking and drawing and Lorelai could feel her heart just going awwwwwww.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" a mom, who looked to be, well, about ten years older than Lorelai as all the other parents did, was saying and she nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

She got back in her car and drove back to the Inn to get to work. At exactly 3:00 pm though, she was waiting right outside the school for Rory with a big grin and a huge hug awaiting her. Rory walked outside with the girl she had befriended that morning.

"Mom!" she said excitedly and hugged her tightly.

"Ugh! I missed you, kid! We're never getting separated for that long ever again!" Lorelai exclaimed, Rory rolled her eyes at her.

"Mom, it's only a few hours. You'll be fine."

Lorelai chose to completely ignore her daughter's smart mouth, which she was now starting to regret teaching her that, (she was pretty sure it was a genetic thing though. She was definitely born with it) and turned to the other little girl instead.

"Who's your new friend Rory? Introduce me to this cool little kid!"

"This is Lane Kim. Lane has two names, her other name is Korean and kind of hard to pronounce but Lane is a very cool name too. She's never heard of The Bangles before, nor The Beatles. She thought they were chips," Rory giggled and the other kid did too.

"Oh! You've never heard The Beatles, Lane Kim? Well, aren't you lucky you've just met the Gilmores! Hey, you got really cool glasses. John Lennon had pretty cool glasses too. It's very rock 'n' roll!"

"Rock and roll?" the other girl was beyond confused. Lorelai sighed and smiled at Lane Kim.

"Well, Lane, it was really nice meeting you. You can hang out with Rory any time you want! We'll get you some pizza and some Beatles and we'll play operation or monopoly. It'll be a blast." The little girl was gawking up at her. Weird...

Just then a Korean mom came by and stood right in front of Lorelai, looking at her with a funny look on her face. It wasn't like any of the faces people have looked at her, the very young single mother, with before. Lorelai didn't really know what to make of that look so she extended her hand and sent her the most charming smile she could come up with. She knew her smile was beyond charming. She had used it on so many random occasions before to get her way with things. But Mrs. Kim did not seem the slightest bit fazed by the Lorelai's mesmerizing grin.

"Hello, Mrs. Kim! I'm Lorelai Gilmore, and this is my daughter Rory! You've got a wonderful daughter!" she said, and Lane smiled up at her. Mrs. Kim kept her strong glare and did not take Lorelai's extended hand, only stared at it with that funny face again. Lorelai's eyebrows furrowed in confusion a little, dropping her arm back to her side. She cleared her throat, sharing a look with Rory. Well, this was awkward.

"Yes, come on, Lane. Dinner's ready at home." She said in a stern tone and turned around walking away.

"Yes, mama," Lane said, her shoulders slumping a little. Lorelai gave her a sympathetic smile. Somehow, she found herself relating to what the little girl must have been feeling right then. She felt as though she had been in similar situations before with Emily Gilmore.

"Her mom is scary," Rory whispered as they walked back toward the car, and Lorelai shrugged.

"It's not nice, calling people scary," she replied quietly and Rory sighed, nodding.

"She's still scary though."

Lorelai chuckled and nodded her head, agreeing with her. "Yeah, she was a little scary." Kind of like my mom, she added quietly.

That was how the rest of the year went. Lorelai would drop Rory off to school where Lane would be waiting for her outside and then would come to pick her up in the afternoon. Mrs. Kim had warmed up a little to Rory after meeting her and realizing that Rory was smart and might not have been a bad influence for her daughter in the end, but she was still scary to Lorelai and sent her that funny look every time she saw her. It was getting colder in November and Lorelai offered to start dropping Lane off, that way the girls could hang out more and well, the Gilmore's could introduce Lane to their good music instead of the hymns and classical music that her mother forced her to listen to. Mrs. Kim had only agreed because it allowed her to focus more on her antique store, and she was starting to trust Lorelai only a little more. She knew she wasn't dangerous but Lorelai knew that she hated the fact that she was a single mother who had gotten pregnant so young and out of wedlock. Lane had told her so. Rory was allowed to have play dates at Lane's house too. Mrs. Kim had actually offered it. She had called Lorelai at the Inn, offering to feed her kid some proper, healthy food instead of that junk she was probably being fed every day. She said Rory needed it in order to grow up strong and mature. Of course, Lorelai did not believe any of that crap. Their eating habits were just fine (although, they did eat a lot of junk food, like a lot of it, like it was practically all they ate). But she was beyond happy to send her daughter over to her friend's house. While she was dropping Rory off that Saturday, Lorelai noticed there was a wake going on in the town square. Practically the whole town was sitting in chairs that were set up, wearing black and their faces ashen, tears staining their faces. She wondered who could have left such an impact on a whole town. That must have been one special and lucky person. She wished that people would care that much when it was her turn to go. The only people at the funeral would probably be Rory and Mia.

"Who died?" Rory asked her and she looked at her with a confused face. Wasn't Rory a little young to know what death is?

"Uhm, I don't know honey, maybe no one died. Maybe it's just a parade."

"Then why is that boy in a black suit crying?" She asked as she pointed at a young man who seemed to be around Lorelai's age. He was wearing a wrinkled black suit, his brown hair pushed back, traces of a baby beard covering his face. Lorelai could have sworn that she had seen him before, but she couldn't remember where. He was a complete stranger but something in the back of her head felt weird and fuzzy. She really felt as though she had met him before. The poor kid's eyes were red and swollen from all the crying. She wondered if maybe it was his parent that had just passed away. She felt really sorry for him as she wondered if she would be that sad when her own parents were to die. She realized that must have been a crazy thought and that she definitely has some issues if she was wondering whether or not she would be crying at her parents' funeral.

"I'm not sure, hon. Maybe someone did pass away," she said quietly with a sigh as she parked the car in front of Mrs. Kim's home and antique store. She leaned down and kissed Rory's forehead gently. "I love you. I'll be here to pick you up at around 6, alright?"

"Bye, Mom," Rory grinned at her before getting out of the car.

"Hey Rory, you'll cry at my funeral right?" Lorelai wondered out loud, cringing at herself. Who asks their kid that kind of question? She had serious issues.

"Uhm... yes?" Rory looked at her like she was crazy and Lorelai honestly felt like it.

"Ah, good girl. Bye, babe." She waved goodbye to her daughter and Mrs. Kim who appeared in the doorway with Lane right behind her and then drove off. As she was turning back around the town square, her eyes met with the boy again, who was now sitting all alone on a bench, looking at the floor with so much anger that she felt like he was going to burn a hole through it. His eyes looked up as she passed by, meeting hers, and his face made a weird look, as though he had felt that same thing she had earlier. Had they met in a previous life before? She gave him a sympathetic smile right as she turned the curb. She got to the Inn a few minutes later and parked Mia's car in the parking lot.

"Hey, Mia. I'm back!" Lorelai said loudly as she walked in, playing with the keys in her hand. "I drove in a puddle and got mud all over your car. I'll get it washed tomorrow if you want. I swear, I've been driving your car more than you probably ever have. I mean sure, your bicycle's pretty cool, but don't you get tired of riding that thing around?"

"Nah, it's quite fun actually. Saves me lots of exercise time."

Lorelai made a face, scrunching her nose at Mia as she handed her the keys. "Exercise! Ew!"

"You know, it's really weird how you and your daughter never gain weight with all that food you're always eating and all that exercise you're never doing."

"Yep. It's a true wonder! I had a dream the other day that a giant hamburger was begging me not to eat it, but then an angel came down from the sky and told me that my whole purpose in this world was to eat junk food! So I had to murder that burger. That was why God created me. I'm like Jesus, but like with junk food, those were the angel's exact words! What do you think that means?" She asked as she tied her apron around her waist.

"Well, I think you need to go see a shrink, and then some scientists so that they could experiment on you. Oh, I truly believe they could solve the world's greatest problems with your genes!" Mia was saying trying really hard not to laugh at the ridiculous kid in front of her. Lorelai noticed then that she was wearing all black and she furrowed her eyebrows at her. "Oh, you were at the funeral?"

"Yeah, it was a friend from town. Poor William, he was a good guy. Always got worse than he deserved. I mean, Mrs. Danes went first then his youngest kid, Liz, she went a little crazy, got knocked up, ran away. Honestly, poor Lucas. He was so miserable, and now all alone." Ah, so Lucas must have been the kid on the bench. "Oh, that kid is such a sweetheart, I feel horribly sad for him. No one deserves that."

Lorelai nodded and hugged her. "Yeah, I can't imagine how horrible that must feel," she said quietly, thinking back to her thoughts in the car. She had terrible issues to solve.

The Gilmore Girls fell into somewhat of a routine. Take Rory to school on weekdays, pick up Rory and Lane from school, introduce Lane to rock, pop rock, punk, and other great genres of music, and then drop Lane off at home, and drive back to the Inn where Lorelai would finish up working while Rory finished her homework. Sometimes, Lorelai would walk up to Rory begging her to let her help her with her homework, but Rory wouldn't let her because she knew that her mother would be even more confused by some of the things than herself. Lorelai would walk away pouting but proudly looking at her daughter who was way too smart for her own age. She loved how independent she was about some things; the same way Lorelai has always been.

The girls would spend most weekends at home when Rory wasn't invited over to the Kim household, binge-watching lame TV-shows or movies, or just hanging out in the kitchen, annoying the hell out of the chefs and forcing them to cook really weird things to try them out. They once asked the main chef to make a pepperoni pizza lasagna and well, it was horribly cheesy and just horrible. But man, did it look good.

During the summer they would spend it at the pool when Lorelai wasn't working or hiding in some of the empty rooms with the AC turned on to the coldest possible. Their lives were good. They were happy, and the young Lorelai was becoming the best friend the older Lorelai could have ever asked for. Not even her closest friends back in Hartford could understand her the way her tiny daughter did, much to her surprise. Rory was only five and could hold the most interesting and amusing conversations with her. They had all the same likes and dislikes, all the same interests and could basically be mistaken for the same person, were it not for their height difference.

When the summer ended, they went back to their old routine. They had Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner at the Gilmore house in Hartford, keeping conversation minimal to avoid any fights. Holidays were awkward over there, but they ate good food and Lorelai had good wine and it was fine. Christopher called a couple of times during the year. He would talk to Rory, and even came by one day while he was passing through Hartford. But Lorelai was still careful around him to keep her daughter safe from any hurting. Rory loved her father and was always excited when he came into town because he would always bring her stuff, mainly small books or useless trinkets. But she was also smart and never let herself get too attached. Lorelai had never told her not to, but somehow, Rory knew it and it confused Lorelai immensely but she had never questioned it, relieved that she didn't have to upset her daughter when it came to her father.

They were living well. They never needed anything, they never wanted anything. Most importantly, they were comfortable and happy. Sure, the shed they lived in wasn't the best but they had made it homey enough for the two of them.

Right before the end of 1990, Lorelai was promoted to Senior Maid at the Inn when the previous one who had practically taught her everything about being a maid at the Inn had retired. She knew basically everything there was to know about the Independence Inn. She almost knew it better than the home she grew up in. This place felt more like a home to her than the other one ever did anyway. She celebrated that night with Rory by watching some 21 Jump street and The Brady Bunch reruns while eating pizza and popcorn.

By the time 1994 had come along, Lorelai had already been promoted to the reception desk. After seeing how good she handled the customers, Mia had insisted that she take the job, even after Lorelai was complaining that she wasn't qualified. But with a personality like hers, she was probably the most qualified person to deal with others. It was proven once when the man working at the front desk was having a hard time with a customer that was yelling about the service here being horrible when Lorelai's poor colleague had told him that they, unfortunately, did not offer cable television. Somehow, Lorelai managed to calm the man down and save the inn from his rage. The guy at the front desk quit after that incident though, deciding that dealing with people was just not his thing. And thus, Lorelai was promoted. In all honesty, she was grateful to get rid of her apron. It was not a flattering look on her. Kinky, maybe. But definitely not her most flattering outfit.

That same year, the old chef left and Rory and Lorelai were both nervous about the new one. What if they couldn't bully him or her into making them horrible chocolate flavored mac n cheese? That would just be a nightmare honestly. They would have to find new hobbies. But fortunately for them, Sookie St. James was an adorable, friendly and bubbly woman, around Lorelai's age. She was as talkative as Lorelai and Lorelai found herself getting along with her great. She found out that Sookie liked to experiment a lot with food, so she figured the chef wouldn't mind the Gilmore Girls' cooking experiments at all. A short while after Sookie had joined them at the Inn, Lorelai and Rory tried to persuade her into cooking the most absurd thing they could ever think of: a barbecue chicken pizza with macaroni and cheese on top and the crust filled with more macaroni and cheese. It actually tasted better than it sounded. Sookie St. James was actually the best cook Lorelai had ever met. She was even better than the ones her mom would hire at her dinners and events. Oh, she knew they were going to become the best of friends. And they did. Sookie started joining the girls on their movie nights, bringing her own snacks with her. She didn't mind the weirdness that came with the girls. She was a bit weird herself, so she was a welcome addition to the group. She didn't treat Lorelai any different when she found out all about her past. Instead, she praised her for being so strong and surviving all of that. Lorelai admitted to herself that she was actually relieved to finally have a best friend like Sookie. Sure, she had Rory, but there were some things she just couldn't discuss with a ten-year-old, even if that ten-year-old was smarter than she should be and well, understood her better than anyone else.


	5. Stars Hollow

November 22nd, 1995

It was freezing cold outside as Lorelai drove her new car to pick Rory up from Lane's house. With her new salary as a manager at the inn, she could finally afford to pay for a Jeep Wrangler. It was the cheapest yet safest and most practical car she could find and she loved it. It was hers and she had bought it with her own hard work. After helping Mia plan a huge wedding that was happening at the inn when the original planner had bailed, Mia was way too impressed that she instantly named Lorelai manager, giving her the job that was directly under hers. All she had to do was kill Mia and she would be her own boss, she often joked and Mia would reply by telling her that she wouldn't stop her because she knew she would do justice to the Inn. Having grown up in a household with a neurotic mother, obsessed with throwing lavish parties and speaking with people in a way that will always get her what she wants, Lorelai was amazing at running things. Mia could see that which was exactly why she had promoted her. It felt just like yesterday since Lorelai was still wiping the windows and fixing the beds.

She honked twice when she parked the car in front of Kim's Antiques and Rory came running outside as fast as possible to avoid the cold. She hugged her mom and put her seatbelt on.

"Hey, kid! How was your day at school?" Lorelai asked her as she started the car again and drove away.

"It was alright. This one guy, Michael, tried to convince me that The Offspring was a much better band than Metallica. He tried to fight me on it, but when I told him my mother was wonder woman, he didn't seem to doodoo in his pants, so I gave him facts instead, you know, the difference in #1 singles and sold out records. That shut him right up."

"Ah! That's my girl!" Lorelai grinned, ruffling her hair.

"Then in English class, we had to write an essay on our favorite author. Do you know how impossible that is? I mean, how am I supposed to choose between Poe or Shelley or Dickens? I couldn't choose. So I settled for Harper Lee,"

"Well, I didn't teach you to read so many books that I didn't even read when the teachers forced me, but hey, I'm really proud of you hon," She sent her daughter a proud smile as she turned the corner onto Maple Street.

Rory laughed but then frowned in confusion as she realized her mother was taking an unusual route back to the Inn. "Are we going somewhere?" she wondered out loud, to which her mother shrugged her shoulders, smirking at her mysteriously.

"I thought we'd go for a drive in town."

"We never drive through town, unless we need something."

"Exactly! About time we did so."

Rory shrugged and didn't fight it. She learned to never argue with her mother over these things over the years. Lorelai would get random ideas and she would just go along with them. In the end, they were always really fun ideas.

They parked in the driveway of a big blue house and Lorelai got out of the car, leaving a very confused Rory in the passenger seat. She waved at miss Patty, Rory's old dance teacher, who was walking out of the house next door. She gave her cheerleading lessons and Rory would only ever cheer for Harvard. It was adorable. But just like everything else that requires movement, it simply was not for her, a thing she had inherited from her mother, and a thing her mother was proud to pass down onto her daughter.

"Oh, hello Lorelai! Rory, oh, honey! We miss you at Miss Patty's School of Ballet! You had so much potential!" Miss Patty said as she approached them. Rory got out of the car. The eleven-year-old smiled politely at Miss Patty and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Miss Patty, I just don't do physical activities." She replied and Lorelai grinned proudly.

"She gets that from me!"

"She gets everything from you, dear." Miss Patty said with a laugh before waving at them and walking away.

"So, what are we doing here?" Rory finally asked as Lorelai walked up the front doorsteps.

"We're going inside," Lorelai replied simply.

"Mom! Are you crazy? Never mind, don't answer that. MOM! We can't do that! That's breaking and entering. What if someone sees us and calls the cops? I can't go to juvie, I'm too young, I still need to go to Harvard, and I need to become a journalist and work for CNN and meet Christiane Amanpour and- why do you have keys? Mom, how do you have the keys to this place?"

Lorelai turned around to look at her daughter after successfully unlocking the door with a laugh and grinned at her excitedly. She walked inside, her daughter reluctantly following her into the empty house. She looked inside in awe and then turned to look at her mom with her blue eyes wide and her mouth open. "Mom, are we squatting? I mean the place is great and all but I'd rather stay in the shed and-,"

"Rory, welcome home, baby!" Lorelai exclaimed excitedly, her arms open wide in the middle of the hallway of the big house.

"What do you mean..."

"I mean, 37 Maple Street, Stars Hollow, Connecticut, United States of America, North America, Earth, Milky Way, Universe, is going to be your new address!"

"Uhm...WHAT?" Rory yelled excitedly jumping up and down excitement too. She ran over to her mother hugging her tightly. She pulled away though, a few moments later looking up at Lorelai with a frown on her face. "Mom, we can never afford this place! I mean, it's too much, isn't it?"

"I mean it wasn't exactly cheap to begin with, but I gave them my charming smile and they were all up for giving me the best possible deal ever. Plus, we've been saving a lot of money for years now. We've only ever used less than like, twenty percent of all the money I've been making since I started working at the Inn, and with the raise now, we can actually afford it and a couch, and furniture, and a washing machine, and-and a fridge-."

"and a monkey lamp?"

"Why would we need a monkey lamp?"

"Why wouldn't we need a monkey lamp?"

"You're totally right. Yes, we can get a monkey lamp!"

"And a bookcase for my books?"

"Yes, sweetie. We're definitely getting a bookcase."

"And a TV? With Cable?"

"Dude, duh!"

"OH MY GOSH!" Rory squeaked excitedly hugging her mother again.

Lorelai stood there as Rory ran around, exploring the house. She stared at the wall in the empty living room. This was going to be their new home, and she couldn't wait to move in. Lorelai gave herself a mental pat on the back. She was honestly beyond proud of herself. Not only had she raised her daughter all by herself ever since she was a teen, she provided for her and worked her butt off to get to this place. Well, if it weren't for Mia, maybe she would have never been able to get to this point. But it didn't matter to her. She was grateful and thankful and beyond proud. And for the first time in years, she felt herself relax. Everything was finally falling perfectly into place, and she was honestly excited to see what Stars Hollow and the world around her had to offer her.

They drove back to the inn to pack their stuff and say goodbye to Mia. Of course, they were still going to see her every single day, but it was going to be different, not living there. The shed had already been emptied out of its minimal furniture while Rory was at school. While they were packing their clothes and other stuff that night, Rory walked over to her mom and wrapped her arms tightly around with a huge smile on her face. She had tears on her cheeks, but Lorelai suspected they were only happy tears because she had the same kind rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you, mom," Rory whispered into her mother's chest as she pulled closer.

"For what, honey?" Lorelai asked in confusion as she held her daughter's chin between her index and thumb to look down at her pretty face and she wiped her tears away.

"For everything that you've done for me, and for us. I love you," Rory said with a big smile and Lorelai couldn't the tears that fell again.

"I love you too, angel. Always," She said hugging her eleven-year-old really tight again.

"Alright girlies, if you need anything, and I mean it, anything at all, you don't hesitate to call me!" Mia said as she hugged Rory really tight once they had emptied all the shed and had grabbed all their belongings and placed them in Lorelai's new beige Wrangler.

"You got it, boss!" Lorelai replied with a fake salute.

"I'll miss you a lot!" Mia exclaimed as she hugged Lorelai next.

"I still work here, you know," she replied as she hugged Mia back. Mia only laughed, rubbing Lorelai's back gently.

"I am so proud of you, Lorelai. And you, Rory. I still remember the day I found you out on those steps. I knew you get to this point. And here you are..."

"Mia, if you start crying, I'll start crying. And if I cry, Rory will cry. And if Rory cries, Sookie will cry."

"It's true, I really will cry," Sookie said as she wiped at her eyes. "we haven't known each other long, but I sure as heck am proud of you, Lorelai. You really are a great person and a girl's greatest friend."

"Aw, Sook!" Lorelai smiled at her friend warmly and engulfed her in a hug. "Ugh, I love you all so much!" She said with the widest possible smile ever. Although she was still going to come to the Inn every single day, she was going to miss this part of her life. After all, she was literally moving away. It wasn't going to double as her house anymore, but it was always going to be her home.

The Gilmore girls got in the car and made the short trip to Stars Hollow and to 37 Maple Street where their new big blue house was. Lorelai parked in the driveway and walked up the stairs to the front door. "Welcome Home, kid," she told Rory who was smiling from ear to ear and hugging her mother's waist. The beds and the couches were already in. Mia had sent them over to the house with someone she knew. Their new neighbors, Morey and Babette, offered to help them settle in. They were quite the odd couple, always talking about their cats and other weird things, but they seemed like really nice people and they didn't bother Lorelai at all. They had also instantly warmed up to Rory. Miss Patty had told them all about her and how she was going to Harvard someday. They helped move in their few boxes and told them to come on over right next door if they needed anything at all before leaving because their kitten cinnamon got scared when he was left alone for too long.

That night, they slept together in Lorelai's bedroom upstairs. They talked about how they were going to decorate the house and what items they needed and what they didn't, eventually deciding that they were going to get basically anything they found "pretty." It didn't necessarily have to be useful. The next morning, Lorelai dropped Rory off to school maybe for the last time in a long time. Rory didn't need to be dropped off anymore because their house was now only a few streets away from the school. She could walk there with Lane. After dropping Rory off to school and started driving back to the Independence Inn. She smiled at Mia who was behind the front desk, greeting her with a small hug.

"Hey, kiddo! You get settled in alright?"

"Yeah, it was good. We met our neighbors. Morey and Babette. They're kinda weird, but I like them. They helped us move everything inside." Lorelai told her as she grabbed a notebook and a pen, scribbling some things. Today was going to be a busy day at the Inn. She sighed as she started getting everything in order for the day.

"Oh! They're absolute sweethearts! Quite the characters... but you'll get used to them. You'll love them!"

"I don't doubt it. I think I already love everything about this town. It has this certain charm to it... it's amazing!" Lorelai smiled. Their conversation was cut short when the first customers came in and Lorelai helped them get accommodated. Sometime during the afternoon, Rory had made it back to the inn. She walked into the kitchen, greeting Sookie and her mother.

"Rory! What are you doing here? I was going to pick you up!" Lorelai exclaimed with a bit a surprise.

"Yeah... about thirty minutes ago. I figured you were really busy so I just took the bus." Rory said with a small shrug. She grabbed a salmon puff from the tray on the counter and devoured the delicious treat. "Sookie, these are amazing!"

"And they're not for you!" the chef said as she took the tray away from her. She pouted at her but it was soon gone when she got out a chocolate cake.

"I'm so sorry hon. With the convention going on here, I guess I lost track of time. I didn't even have my afternoon cup of coffee. How am I still standing?"

"It's okay mom, I know it's a hectic day," Rory said and kissed her mother's cheek.

"I don't deserve a kid like you," Lorelai mumbled as she ruffled her daughter's hair, who only grinned at her.

The weekend came by fast and Lorelai was busy with the convention at the Inn during the day. They did get the chance to go out shopping in the evening though. They bought a monkey lamp like Rory had wanted to for no reason, and a bookshelf for her many, many, many books. They also bought new bed sheets and pillowcases and a bunch of other necessities, and way more useless pretty things than useful. It was fun to get to buy all these things though. The last Lorelai had gone on a shopping spree was when her dad had given her his credit card to buy stuff for Rory when she was first born. She had bought some stuff for herself too, unashamedly.

Sunday came by and it Lorelai's day off from work. They had some off-brand cereal for breakfast and spent the whole morning in their pajamas setting the things they had bought the previous day all over the house. It needed a lot more work to look good, but it was still homey, and it was their home. They loved it.

Lorelai walked Rory to Lane's during lunchtime for a project they had to work on for school. She decided to walk around town after that to get to know it a little better. She passed by a diner and remembered she hadn't had her cup of coffee yet because she hadn't unboxed the brand new coffee machine yet. She looked up at the small yellow sign that read "Luke's Diner" and at the larger one that read "William's Hardware Store," wondering which one it was. The place inside was crowded; all the tables busy with customers getting their lunches. She recognized a few faces, Miss Patty and Babette and a bunch of mothers from Rory's school. Everyone else was practically a stranger to her. She waved at the ladies who seemed to be in a deep conversation that sounded a lot like gossip. She wondered if they had said things about her. After all, she was the new addition to the town.

She walked up the counter, saying, "Coffee, coffee, coffee! Gosh, I really need my coffee asap!" and smiled at the man who was standing behind it, wearing a black baseball cap backward and a blue flannel shirt. He had this shaggy look about him, with his stubble and that grumpy look on his face. He completely ignored her as he was taking the order of another man sitting at the counter. She sat down beside him and cleared her throat, the shaggy man still ignoring her. "Come on, dude! I really need some coffee! Please!" she begged, and the finally tore his eyes away from his notepad, staring into her wide blue eyes. His eyebrows furrowed a little, but then he glared at her, muttering, "I'm busy. Wait your turn." The man, who she assumed was Luke, started walking around the diner, placing plates in front of people. Lorelai followed him around.

"Okay, here's the thing, if I don't my cup of coffee right now I think I may pass out. I really need my coffee. I didn't get to have some this morning cuz I was too lazy to unbox the coffee machine last night and too tired to do it this morning, and plus I think I forgot to buy coffee from the store yesterday. I don't think I've ever bought a bag of coffee before, actually. But that's beside the point. If I don't any caffeine into my system right now, I will die. I really need it. It's like, not having any coffee in me is like my kryptonite. My body needs like- like air, it's like I'm Bonnie and coffee's Clyde like I'm Luke Skywalker and coffee is my lightsaber-,"

"Will you shut up already?" he snapped at her and she raised an eyebrow at him, but shut up anyway. She tended to talk a mile a minute when she really wanted something. "You're being really annoying right now. So why don't you go sit down, shut up, and I'll get to you when I get to you, sheesh," he let out a puff of air as he turned to another customer.

"So, what's your birthday?" Lorelai asked him after a few seconds of silence, refusing to give in.

"What?" he looked at her in confusion, giving her a look that said none of your business.

"I asked what your birthday was."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'll tell you if you give me my coffee."

"No,"

"Okay, so what's your birthday?" he ignored her. "Okay, what's with 'tude, dude? I just wanted my coffee. I'm sure you don't want a dead person right here in your diner. That would be horrible right? And it would all be your fault because you wouldn't give me my cup of coffee. So what's your birthday?"

He turned to look Lorelai straight in the eyes with the most annoyed face she had ever seen. Something flickered in his eyes for a moment as he looked into her blue ones, but it was too quick for her to catch as a glare replaced it instantly. "November," was all he said. He probably didn't want to give in too much to a looney stranger. He looked at her in utter confusion as she pulled out the morning paper from her purse and opened it to the horoscope page. She scribbled something with a pen she had also grabbed from her purse. She then proceeded to rip out a small piece of the paper and handed it to Luke. Under his star sign, Scorpio, she had written "you will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away."

She didn't think that it would work, but the man walked up behind the counter, poured some coffee in a white plastic cup, put the lid on it, and handed it to Lorelai. "That would be $1.74," he said, holding his hand out. She gave him the money, and sat down at the counter, amused. She did say she would go away. But she didn't want to at this point. She quite enjoyed staring at the angry man walking around his busy diner.

"Hold on to that horoscope," she told him. "Put it in your wallet and carry it around with you. One day it would bring you luck,"

He stared at her for a few moments before placing the piece of paper in his back pocket and leaving her at the counter to take care of other customers. She sat there for maybe an hour, the raggedy man in the flannel paying no attention to her whatsoever, and she found it quite amusing. When she left, she stood outside for a second, staring inside. She watched as Luke Danes pulled out the piece of paper from his back pocket, staring at it for a few seconds before placing it in his wallet. She smiled as she walked away, back to her house. This was going to be good. She just knew it.


	6. Java Junkies

"Mom, come on! I'm gonna be late for school and you're going to be late for work!" Rory was yelling as she ran around the house, trying to gather all her belongings for school. She had her head and right arm in the sweater; the left arm was having a hard time getting in. Her laces were untied and her hair, well, it was a disaster. She didn't care though. She couldn't be late for school. She has never been late for anything before and she wasn't starting now because she had wanted to stay up watching a documentary on their new television the night before.

"Will you stop yelling! I'm trying to sleep here!" Lorelai yelled back all the way from her bedroom upstairs, her voice slightly muffled though. She was probably covering her face with the pillow to block Rory's voice.

Rory stomped on the stairs and stood in her doorway with an annoyed expression on her face. "It's 7:25."

Lorelai was on her feet faster than she could name all the members of The Bangles. And that was really, really fast. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP EARLIER!"

Rory groaned in frustration as she walked into the bathroom to fix her hair and brush her teeth. "Dude, that's what I've been trying to do for the past twenty minutes!"

"Drop the 'tude, missy!" her mother grumbled as she opened her closet, grabbing the first presentable outfit she could find: black pants, white shirt. She put them on really fast and drudged to the bathroom. Rory gave her the once-over and then snickered.

"What's so funny?" Lorelai demanded as she grabbed her toothbrush.

"You forgot something."

"What? My shoes? They're downstairs by the door."

"No, mother dearest, it's not your shoes," Rory was smirking, trying really hard not to laugh. Lorelai was still very confused, looking at her with her eyebrows furrowed and an "I don't have time for this" look on her face.

"Oh, the men today are going to be swooooooooning," Rory said in a sing-song voice, still giggling as she made her way back downstairs to grab her backpack. And that's when it hit Lorelai.

"OH MY GOSH! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I WASN'T WEARING A BRA!"

Rory only laughed at her mother. Ten minutes later, the ladies were standing outside all dressed up and ready to go, as though they had not woken up late, and they didn't really. At the speed they got dressed in, they even had time to spare. But they were never going to do that again. The running around the house was enough exercise to last them a century.

"So, wanna get some donuts from Luke's Diner? You shouldn't go to school without any breakfast. You know, the most important meal of the day or something," Lorelai was saying as they started walking through the town, in the direction of Rory's school.

"Good morning, hons," Babette greeted them from her front lawn. She was cleaning her lawn gnomes, oddly yet not too oddly enough.

"Morning, Babette!" they greeted her at the same time.

"Yeah, sure. Can I get some coffee too? I won't be able to make it till 3:00 on the little sleep that I got." Rory looked up at her mother pleading eyes.

"You know, I should be really worried that you like coffee. It's not all that healthy, especially for your age. But somehow, I feel proud that you're slowly turning into a coffee junkie just like your old mama!"

They laughed as they walked into Luke's.

"I'll be right with you!" He said as he dashed behind the counter, barely noticing who had walked in. He probably hadn't even noticed her and Rory at all.

"Oh, take your time. It's not like anybody's in a hurry or anything," Lorelai said sarcastically. He looked up upon hearing her voice. He was a little hesitant for a few seconds with the papers that were in his hands. He cleared his throat and went back to work.

"Just give me a second," He muttered as the Gilmore girls walked up to the counter.

"He's a little weird, isn't he?" Rory whispered to her mother as she sat down on one of the seats. Lorelai sat down beside her with a grin on her face.

"Haven't you noticed that everyone around here is a little looney? Us included." She replied and Rory nodded. She couldn't argue with that because it was very true.

"Hey, so what can I get you two?" He said, sending a smile in Rory's direction. Lorelai could have sworn that this was the first time she had ever seen him smile.

"Two donuts, please," Rory said politely.

"Oh, the ones with the sprinkles," Lorelai added with an excited grin as she eyed the tasty, mouthwatering pastries.

"OOO, yes, with the sprinkles please," Rory agreed excitedly.

"Anything else?" He asked with a chuckle. He has probably never seen anyone that excited about food before. Well, he had better get used to it with the Gilmores in town!

"Yeah, some coffee please," Lorelai said and he nodded, filling one cup of coffee and handing it to her. Rory raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, but he only looked at her with a blank expression on his face.

"What? You want something else?" He asked her and she nodded.

"Um, yeah? Some coffee,"

"No," He replied as though what she had asked for was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"Um, excuse me, are you refusing to take our order?" Lorelai said with an overly exaggerated shocked gasp.

"That is discrimination against the Gilmores!"

"I refuse to let this go on any longer!"

"We demand equality!"

"We fight for our rights!"

"What rights? The one where you're slowly killing your kid by letting her drink coffee? I'm not going to jail because I was a part of this child abuse that's going on here," Luke snapped in annoyance and anger, there was a little concern in his tone though.

"Aww, he cares for your health," Lorelai said, tilting her head to the side, and placing her hands over her heart as though that was the most touching thing that has ever happened to her.

"You are very sweet, Mr. Danes!" Rory exclaimed with the same expression as her mother's on her face.

"It's Luke," he grumbled in annoyance, fixing his baseball cap on his head.

"Okay, Luke," she repeated, putting emphasis on his name. "So can I have my coffee now, please?"

"No,"

"Come on! Why not? If I don't have coffee you'll be responsible for the eleven-year-old kid who passed out in the middle of math class," Rory whined. She gave him her puppy eyes, the ones that no one, not even her mother who was the master of puppy eyes, could refuse.

"Are you going to refuse this cute, adorable, tiny face?" Lorelai said, holding her daughter's face in her palms and squishing her cheeks a little. It was torture to Rory, but it was totally worth it if it meant getting her cup of coffee.

He faltered a little but then remembered what he was fighting against. "Yes," he said in the coldest tone he could muster.

The girls sighed dramatically. "Well, kid, this is one battle lost. But we will be back, and we will fight with all our strength, and we will win!"

"HAZZA!" Rory yelled, throwing her fist in the air. The hint of a smile appeared on Luke's face, his eyes glinting in amusement.

"Here, have a sip from mommy's cup. I don't want you dying on me like this grumpy cat wants you to," Lorelai handed her cup over to Rory and Luke just shook his head. He was defeated in the end since Rory did get her coffee.

"So there's really nothing that will save you from becoming a coffee addict?" Luke muttered in defeat.

"Oooh, he catches on fast!" Rory said excitedly, her body buzzing with relief as she took the first sip of the absolutely wonderful hot coffee in her mother's plastic cup.

"Ai ai ai, I am the worst person in the whole world," Luke grumbled as he poured another cup and handed it to Rory.

"I'll be yelling I told you so at your funeral,"

"Thank you!" Rory exclaimed with a wide grin. She kissed her mom's cheek and ran outside to meet with Lane and walk to school.

"What you're doing to your kid is horrible!" he tried scolding Lorelai but she wasn't fazed at all.

"I'm not doing anything really. Well, not on purpose. It's all genetic," she explained and he nodded, muttering something about how being this addicted to coffee could only be something out of anyone's control.

She pulled out a few dollar bills and handed them to him but he refused them. she raised an eyebrow at him but he shrugged his shoulders.

"Consider it an official 'Welcome to Stars Hollow' present," he said with a ghost of a smile while she had the most surprised look on her face. That was the last thing she had expected from the guy who was practically begging her to leave the previous day.

"Thanks, Luke," she said genuinely, with a small smile. She got up, grabbing her purse and started making her way outside. "See you later," she said with a wave before turning around and leaving. He waved back, but she was already across the street.

"Who's that?" Luke turned around to face a blonde, curly-haired young woman who wrapped her arms around his waist. He shrugged as he busied himself with his receipts and notepad.

"Just moved here with her daughter. I think she works at the Independence Inn," he explained and his girlfriend nodded.

"Cool, cool," she said quietly. He sent her a smile and she returned it, but hers never reached her eyes.

"So, I'm gonna go get a few pictures at the lake. You want anything?" she said making her way around the counter and grabbed her camera bag.

"Nah, I'm good," he said and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you at dinner?"

"Yeah, I'll be there. Bye, Luke," She said as she made her way out.

"Bye, Rachel, I love you." Rachel turned around and smiled at him. She waved and walked out.

Luke found himself letting out a long sigh as he fixed his baseball cap for the billionth time that day.

"Trouble in paradise?" Ceaser, the cook, grinned at him and Luke rolled his eyes, ignoring him completely.

"Get back to work,"

"You got it, boss." The other man replied with an amused look.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Hey Sook," Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen, smiling at an overwhelmed, red cheeked Sookie.

"Not now, out of my way, Jose, I told you a thousand times, big and slow stirring. Did you strain the sauce twice? Because if you strain it once it'll be too thick. Any more than two will make it too smooth and -,"

"Sookie," Lorelai said with a laugh, a little amused and worried at the same time. "Stop stressing yourself over this thing. It's not healthy, you know. Here, have some coffee. Calm your nerves."

She handed her the cup of coffee in her hand. Sookie took off the lid and took a big gulp, finishing the whole cup of joe.

"Woah, slow down there, Michael Johnson,"

"Right, sorry," sookie's cheeks were flushed. "This is good coffee. Luke's Diner, huh?" she read the logo on the cup out loud.

"Yeah, I went over there yesterday, you know, explore the town and stuff, and I got some coffee. He was rude about it but the coffee was great, so I took Rory for breakfast there today. He makes really good donuts too," she explained with a grin on her face.

"Uhu, you haven't tried my homemade donuts though, now have ya!"

"Sookie, you know anything you make is always going to be my favorite food in the world! Especially that risotto you made the other day, it was delicious!"

"That's true, I do make a really good risotto dish," Sookie said with a cocky smile on her face. She was the best cook Lorelai had ever had the pleasure of tasting their food. And she's tasted lots of food from lots of different chefs. Sookie had a talent that was unmatched.

"Yeah, hey, for my birthday you really gotta make me that risotto but like, all to myself," Lorelai told her with a grin as she grabbed a pastry puff from one of the trays and popped it in her mouth.

"Oh, it'll be my pleasure!"

The rest of the day passed rather quickly. The Inn was in chaos, guests everywhere because of the convention that just wouldn't end. Well, it was the last day actually, but it still felt like forever until the guests were supposed to leave. Around lunchtime, Lorelai checked back into the kitchen, hoping that Sookie was still alive. She was rather very clumsy, especially when she was so stressed out. Sookie was on the floor sobbing when she walked in, with rice splattered all around her on the floor. The other chefs and waiters were staring at her a little lost. "Oh my God, Sookie, what happened?" Lorelai asked her as she crouched beside her friend.

"The rice, and-a-and then the floor, and-," she sobbed even harder and Lorelai sighed as she stood up and held her hand out for her friend to take. She did reluctantly. Lorelai helped her off the ground and wrapped an arm comfortingly around her shoulder.

"Okay, let's go into town. You need a break, I definitely need a break, we'll go grab some food." Lorelai suggested with a warm smile on her face as she started leading Sookie out the back door.

"But what about dinner? I need to finish dinner." Sookie whined and Lorelai shushed her gently.

"Hey, Jose can take over. You've taught him everything. He can't cook rice wrong, now can he?" She pulled her friend closer and signaled to Jose to keep working in the kitchen. The girls were finally outside and she led the way to her Jeep.

"Yeah, I suppose. But we can eat here, I can make something-,"

"Sookie, you need to get away from this kitchen. It's not doing you any good right now." Lorelai said with a stern voice, really concerned for her friend's well-being. "We'll grab some coffee and sandwiches somewhere in town, and you'll relax a bit and then you can come right back to work feeling way better! How does that sound?" She asked her with a grin and Sookie nodded.

"Yeah, it sounds good. I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast..." Sookie sighed as she got into the car and buckled her seatbelt.

"See? Lorelai, wonder woman, to the rescue!" Lorelai said with a chuckle as she got into the driver seat and started the way back to town.

"So, where shall we eat?" She asked Sookie when they arrived at the town square.

"Closest place around," she replied. She was currently laying with the seat pushed all the way back. Her eyes were closed, her shoes were off and she was rubbing her forehead in circles. She looked ridiculous but Lorelai envied right at that moment. She wanted to kick off her heels and relax.

"Well, the closest place I see is Luke's Diner."

"Sounds good,"

"Alrighty," She found an empty spot in front of the diner and she parked the car. The two ladies walked out of the car and crossed the road, stepping into the diner. It wasn't as busy as it was in the morning or the day before, but there were still quite a few tables that were taken.

"Oh, hey Sookie, Lorelai," Luke greeted them as he placed a burger in front of a customer.

"Luke, are the pickles in here organic?" the man asked and Luke stared at him like he was ready to punch him.

"Yes, Taylor. What difference does it make?" he snapped at the guy.

"Well, it makes a lot of difference. What about the tomatoes?"

"Taylor, all the vegetables in that burger are from Doose's market. So unless you're selling inorganic vegetables at your market, then the veggies are organic. So either eat your veggie burger or don't, it makes no difference to me,"

Taylor Doose shut up and ate his burger.

"That was a bit rude, wasn't it?" Lorelai said and Luke gave her a look like she was a crazy lady.

"You try having a conversation with Taylor for more than a second, and you'll wanna rip his head right off," he grumbled. "What are you doing here anyway? You came in this morning."

"You sure do know how to make a customer feel welcome!" Lorelai said, her words oozing sarcasm.

"We're just here for lunch, Luke." Sookie intervened and he led them to an empty table and handed them menus.

"Why doesn't it have pictures? All Diner menus should have pictures," Lorelai exclaimed her dissatisfaction with the menu with a pout on her face.

"Do you complain about everything?" he asked her with disbelief on his face.

"No, not everything. I never complain when U2's playing." She said with a grin and he looked at her in confusion.

"Who?"

She gasped, and for the first time in a thousand years, it was in genuine shock. "You don't know U2? What rock have you been living under?"

"I'm not big on music," he muttered.

"Unbelievable. No wonder you're so grumpy all the time. Listen to some good music, loosen up a little." She gave him the best advice she thought she could ever give anyone.

"Sure," was all he said. She sighed, thinking that he was a lost cause.

"So why don't your menus have any pictures on them? How do I know if I want a dish or not?"

"You read the description."

"What's the Monte Cristo sandwich?"

"Read the description."

"I'll just have a cheeseburger and some cherry soda," Sookie ordered. He wrote it down on his notepad and then looked at Lorelai expectantly.

"Are you going to order anything any time soon?" he said in a tone that was nothing but annoyed. For some reason, she found it quite amusing annoying the living hell out of this man. He was so easily annoyed, it was great.

"Yes," she said, and then resumed to stare at the menu for another few minutes. She knew what she wanted but she loved watching him tap his foot impatiently on the floor and adjust his backward baseball cap every few seconds.

"Alright, that's it. If you're not going to order anything, just tell me so I can go back to work. You're not my only customer here." He snapped. She noticed that the only tone he was capable of was snapping.

"I'll have a cheeseburger with some chili fried and coffee, please," She said and grinned up at him with the most innocent look on her face.

"Coming right up," he grumbled and walked to the kitchen.

"What was that all about?" Sookie asked with a raised eyebrow. Lorelai shrugged her shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know; Luke never usually puts up with people who annoy him. You're clearly annoying the hell out of him, but somehow you're still sitting at this table," Sookie explained and Lorelai raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't I be sitting at this table...?" she asked, quite frankly a little lost.

"Well, one time this one person was in here all morning, just ordering some soda. Nothing else. Luke kicked him out after the fourth soda, saying he was taking up space and time. He was very aggressive about it too. I heard he made the guy cry. But you're here being even more annoying than that poor guy who did nothing and all you got was his "annoyed but not very annoyed" voice. His true annoyed voice is like really loud, you don't wanna get on his bad side,"

"Well, maybe he finds me charming," Lorelai joked, batting her eyelashes and giving her friend her seductive smile.

"Well, then that would just be bad."

"Is he married?"

"Well, might as well be. He's in one of those serious relationships." Sookie explained, just as her soda and burger were placed in front of her.

Lorelai found herself frowning a little and Luke seemed to notice as he placed her food in front of her. "What? Are you gonna complain about your food before even trying it?"

"Nope, it looks great. Thank you, Lucas," She sent him a grin, and he rolled his eyes as he walked away, muttering that "It's Luke".

They ate in a comfortable silence, occasionally chatting about something random. Sookie was telling her all the gossip on each and every townsperson she could think of. Lorelai was taking it all in with so much excitement. She couldn't wait to tell Rory about Taylor and the dog incident.

"I feel like I've met Luke before. I'm not really sure where. Maybe it was a dream. But I have this vague image in my head, of Luke, in a baseball cap and that flannel of his, minus the beard though. A lot skinnier too." Lorelai was saying as she parked the car at the inn and got out, Sookie following her. She locked the car and they made their way in through the kitchen's backdoor.

"Luke without the beard? That must have definitely been a dream then. The last time he shaved that thing off completely was when he had to meet with his lawyers when he opened up his Diner. I still remember that day because it's so rare. Taylor even had Andrew take a picture. Of course, Luke got pissed and almost punched Andrew, poor guy. The picture was in the Gazette the next day," Sookie said with a chuckle and Lorelai nodded.

"Yeah, it was probably a dream. But I really got a déjà-vu feeling when we met yesterday like I've definitely seen someone in a plaid shirt and a backward baseball cap before,"

"Maybe," Sookie shrugged her shoulders as she checked on the food that was made during her absence. To her surprise, everything was in order. She smiled in relief. "It was a good idea getting me out of here. It would've been a disaster if I hadn't relaxed a little. The chicken needs more salt though," She said with a shake of her head. "Where are your taste buds, Jose?" she gave him a look that made him seem like a tiny little boy being scolded for dropping his juice on the couch.

"I'll add some more right away," He mumbled with fear in his voice.

"Thank you," she added.

"You run this place like Hitler ran Nazi Germany!" Lorelai commented with amusement in her tone and Sookie seemed offended.

"Excuse me, I'm not that bad," she complained and Lorelai only laughed as she left the kitchen so she could get back to work and yelled, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, dear!"


	7. Movie Nights

"Hey, Rory, you wanna have a movie night tonight?" Lorelai asked her daughter as they made their way through town on Friday morning, walking towards Luke's Diner for some breakfast. It had become a daily thing for them. Lorelai was too lazy to cook any breakfast at home, well the truth was she didn't know how and was afraid of burning down the house, and going all the way to the inn every day to have breakfast was a big no, so they opted to going to Luke's every morning. He made great breakfast. The only downside was his refusal to give Rory some coffee every morning. He always ended up caving in though once the girls got really under his skin with their annoying rants.

"Can I pick the movie this time? I really don't want to end up watching two hours of a zombie eating brains while singing some 50's classics," Rory replied as she opened the door to the diner and walked inside, Lorelai following her inside.

"Okay, first of all, that wasn't my fault. There was false advertisement on the cover! Second of all, it was pretty funny when the alien started singing some Paul Anka classics!" she defended herself with a laugh as she remembered that scene, Rory laughing along with her.

"Well, yeah, anyone singing Paul Anka other than Paul Anka is kinda funny."

"Hmm, you're right," Lorelai sighed as she sat down at one of the empty tables. Rory sat down across from her right when a pissed off Luke walked over to them.

"What, so you seat yourselves now? What if this table was reserved?" he raised an angry eyebrow at the girls who only looked up at him with their innocent, big, blue eyes.

"Do you even take reservations, Lucas Pucas?" Lorelai asked as she took the menus that he reluctantly handed over.

"Stop it with the annoying nicknames, please. Just call me Luke, for the thousandth time," He grumbled, even more, annoyed than ever.

"Calm down, mister. You're pissed off more than usual. Something wrong?" Lorelai looked up at him, meeting his gaze with her own which was concerned for him.

"I'm fine. Peachy keen. What can I get you two?" he said, hardly convincing anyone at all, but she dropped it, not wanting to anger him even more by pressing the matter.

"I'd like a cheese omelet with bacon and some toast on the side, and some coffee. Lots of coffee," Lorelai ordered, handing him back the menu.

"Same for me, please," Rory ordered with a polite smile. Luke wrote down their order on his little notepad and made his way to the counter to get their order in.

"What do you think got his panties in a twist this morning?" Lorelai whispered to her daughter as she eyed angry Luke aggressively try to open the cash register.

"I don't know. Did you notice he didn't even fight us about the coffee today?" Rory uttered her words with shock laced through them.

"You're right, something's got him so worked up that he's willingly killing my kid! No one gets to kill my kid but me!" Lorelai exclaimed sending a glare in Luke's direction. He met her gaze with a confused one. He was probably wondering what reason she would have to be glaring at him like that. He waved his hands in the air, asking her in signs why she was giving him the look. She grabbed the knife and pretended to slice her throat open, threatening him. He walked towards her, his footsteps heavy and mad.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you mad?" He said loudly in the angriest tone Lorelai had ever heard him use.

"You're willingly trying to kill me," Rory spoke before her mother could, knowing full well that whatever Lorelai had wanted to say would have only pushed Luke's buttons even more than they already were pushed.

"What the heck do you mean?" he demanded with the most lost and frustrated look on his face ever.

"Well, you didn't fight me on the coffee. You're just willingly about to give it to me!" she exclaimed. "Luke, that's worrying to us!"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "I'm not in the mood," he sighed and walked back to the counter to grab the food that was ready and placed them in front of them. He didn't say anything after that, only stormed off to the back of the diner.

"Do you think he just went through a breakup?" Lorelai wondered as she took a sip of her coffee.

Rory shrugged, taking a bite of her food. "Maybe, I haven't actually seen him with a woman around here. Do you think he really had a girlfriend?"

"I mean, Sookie did say he does,"

They shrugged, dropping the matter and focusing more on their breakfast. There was an odd feeling in Lorelai's chest though. She couldn't quite pinpoint what kind of feeling it was, she had never felt it before. She tried to ignore it and started a new conversation with her daughter.

"So, what movie do you wanna watch? I'll get it from the movie store right after work."

They started debating on what movie was best for their movie night and what snacks they needed to go with that movie. That was a really long conversation. It lasted all the way to Rory's school. Lorelai decided to walk her there to finish their conversation on good movies. Lane joined them in the middle of it, putting on a Metallica t-shirt as soon as she was out of her mother's sight. Lorelai hugged them goodbye and then made her way back to get her car and drive to work. On the way back, she saw Luke sitting on a bench near his diner next to a blonde woman in a deep conversation. She waved at him with a soft smile which he didn't return. The woman gave her a weird look before turning back to Luke and said something that clearly pissed him off because he got up and stormed right off to the diner.

At 7 in the afternoon, Lorelai and Rory were sitting on their couch in front of their TV in their pajamas with Dirty Dancing playing. They had all sorts of snacks on the table including two large pizzas with everything on top, some popcorn, Twizzlers, and peanut M&M's.

"Patrick Swayze sure knows how to make a woman feel good," Lorelai said as she took a bite off her pizza slice. Rory snickered, shaking her head at her ridiculous mother.

"Not my type," she simply said as she grabbed another piece.

"Yeah, you bet your butt he's not! You shouldn't have a type till you're at least 35, missy!"

"Mom, you're not even 35 yet,"

"I can ground your smart mouth forever!"

"You can't. Who will go crazy with you when the new XTC album comes out?"

Lorelai did not reply. She smacked her daughter's shoulder with a twizzler instead. They both laughed and continued watching the movie.

When the movie was done, Rory got up to go wash her hands in the kitchen.

"Hey mom...." She called out after a few seconds.

"Yeah, hon?"

"I'm not sure the water is supposed to be this color..."

"What color, honey?" Lorelai asked as she walked into the kitchen while yawning in tiredness. She looked at the water running from the faucet and her eyes widened, sleep forgotten. "Oh, whoa, it's... orange. Is it supposed to be orange?"

"I'm pretty sure water should be transparent," Rory said with a little worry in her tone. "I drank water from the faucet in the morning. Do you think I'll get ill?"

"I don't know. I drank from it too! Okay, okay, uhm, tomorrow we only eat fruit. Maybe if we eat healthy food, it will reverse any effect the water might have and we'll be safe from any weird diseases. We'll be okay..." Lorelai tried to convince herself and her kid.

"Yeah, I hope so. I can't die before going to Harvard or meeting Christian Amanpour," Rory sighed, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Hey, you ain't dying, kid. Not under my watch, you're not!" Lorelai said as she hugged Rory. "Get some rest. We'll think of some way to fix it tomorrow."

"You mean, you'll get a professional who will think of some way, right?"

"Yes, Rory, it's me we're talking about here," Lorelai rolled her eyes and pushed her daughter into her bedroom. "Go to sleep, kid."

"Goodnight, mom," She called out with a chuckle.

Lorelai sighed in exhaustion and started making her way upstairs. She only hoped it didn't cost much to fix the water pipes.

The next morning, the girls made their way to Luke's diner for some breakfast. He seemed to be only slightly less grumpy than the previous morning.

"Morning, Luke," Lorelai greeted a very tired Luke with a grin.

"Huh? Yeah, morning," He muttered as he placed a plate in front of a customer.

"Excuse me, sir, I ordered the eggs scrambled," the guy said and Luke raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to fight him on this.

"Well, then you're having fried eggs. It's the same thing," he snapped at him.

"Well, no, it's not exactly the same -," the guy started and Lorelai knew that that was probably the worst move he could have ever done. Luke cut him off by grabbing the fork and aggressively attacking the fried eggs, scrambling them effectively.

"There. They're all scrambled. Happy now?" he glared at the man so hard that he could have burned holes through his skull if it was humanly possible.

The poor customer gulped and muttered a scared thank you and honestly, Lorelai felt bad for him but she couldn't help but laugh. Rory had to physically cover her face so as to avoid any rude actions toward the poor man.   
Rory sat down at an empty table and Lorelai placed her purse on her chair and followed Luke to the counter.

"Dude, you made that poor old guy wet his pants!" She said with a laugh of disbelief.

"People are dumber than usual today. I can't deal with them," he defended as he fixed stuff in the cash register.

"Well, you shouldn't ever be allowed to deal with people if we're being honest here," She told him with an innocent, wide grin and he only looked up at her with a raised eyebrow and she dropped the grin.

"Okay, so we'll be at that table, Mr. Grumpy Pants, we'll holler when we're ready to order," she said and turned around to walk back to the table Rory was sitting at.

"Please don't holler," he sighed, looking at her with pleading eyes, knowing full well that Lorelai would actually holler in the most embarrassing way possible. She only laughed as she sat down and opened her menu.

"Hey mom, my stomach feels a little funny... never mind, it was just a fart,"

Lorelai looked up at her daughter in silence and complete and utter disbelief for a long time before she mustered the strength to say something. "Did you just- did you just fart in a diner?" she asked her before bursting out into an endless fit of laughter. Leave it to the Gilmores to be as childish and embarrassing as that.

"Mom, come one, you're telling me you've never done it?" Rory looked at her, a little bit embarrassed and Lorelai only laughed harder.

"Well, duh, but I've never advertised it, well except for this one time when my parents were trying to set me up with their friend's ugly kid and well he was boring and picked his nose very obviously so I farted and told him about it and that seemed to do the trick,"

"You are unbelievable," Rory replied with a shake of her head.

"That's disgusting,"

"Luke, my dear friend, has anyone ever told you that listening in on other people's conversations is very rude?" Lorelai gave a joking glare and he only rolled his eyes.

"Have you picked what you want?" he asked impatiently.

"I told you, we'll holler!"

"I didn't want you to holler,"

"Aw, he cares about our vocal cords!"

"Shut up. What do you want?"

"Hmm, I think I'll have some blueberry pancakes. With extra blueberries and blueberry sauce. We're only having fruit today," She ordered with a grin and he gave her an annoyed look.

"You are aware that pancakes aren't fruit, right?" he gave her an "Are you serious" look.

"Uhu, but the blueberries inside will do the trick,"

"Sure. Rory?" he turned to the preteen who asked for waffles with strawberries on them.

"So, what's with the fruit? I thought you guys were incapable of ingesting anything healthy," he wondered as he took the menus from them.

"Oh, we're capable we just don't like to," She answered as though that was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Yeah, that makes sense." He muttered as he walked away.

"So do you really think eating fruit will do the trick and magically heal any diseases we might have caught?" Rory asked while opening the book that she had started reading the previous day. Once she had started a book, that girl did not let it down until it was done, except for a little bit of sleep.

"I'm really hoping. Aren't fruits super healthy? I'm sure they can reverse the effects of orange gooey water," she sighed and took a sip from the cup of coffee Luke had placed in front of her.

"Your water is orange and gooey?" He asked with a lot of concern in his tone. "How the heck did you manage to do that?"

"Hey, mister, I didn't do anything! It was just... well, orange and gooey!" she snapped at him but the look of concern was still present on his face.

"It shouldn't be orange and gooey," Luke mentioned casually as he placed the plates filled with food in front of the girls.

"Oh, well thanks for the information, captain obvious!" Lorelai said sarcastically as she took a bite of her pancake.

"Dude, these are great," she moaned and cut another piece, force-feeding it to Rory who had the same reaction. Her daughter then did the same with her waffle.

"We're both having pancakes and waffles tomorrow, that's for sure," Lorelai decided as she took another bite of her breakfast, Rory nodding her head in agreement.

"You girls are weird," Luke muttered with a shake of his head, the girls completely ignoring him. "So, do you need help fixing your water problem?"

"Yeah, I'll call the guy who fixes things at the inn, I'm sure he can give us a good price," she explained and took a sip of her mouthwatering coffee.

"Hey, uh, if you want I can pass by later today and check it out for you. I'm good at fixing things," Luke offered, fiddling with his cap and fixing it on top of his head.

"Really? You'd actually do something nice? For me? Lorelai Gilmore? Mother of Rory Gilmore? The woman who has been purposely annoying you every day for the short amount of time that you have known her for? You would actually do that?" she asked, actual shock and surprise very evident in her tone and on the expression on her face with her blue eyes wide open as she stared up into his own, expecting there to be malice or any hint that he had been joking. But he was only staring down at her with that serious expression of his.

"You make it seem like I'm the most heartless person on earth. So do you want my help or not?" he grumbled, tapping his foot on the diner's floor impatiently. Well, annoyed Luke was back, but his nice offer was still there and Lorelai couldn't have been more thankful.

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Luke," she said with a genuinely thankful smile.

He shrugged, mumbling something that sounded like 'no problem' as he walked back to the counter, back to work.

"Luke," Rory called back and he turned around with a raised eyebrow. She smiled at him sweetly, asking innocently, "Where's my coffee?"

He let out a groan and yelled, "NO!"

"C'mon! Please, Luke. I know you don't want a passed out kid in you di- mom? Why are there two of you, mom?" She started fanning herself dramatically, falling back in her chair while her mother only watched in amusement and drank her own coffee, trying to stifle in her laughter.

"I swear to God, you're going to die one die and the cause of death will be a caffeine overdose," Luke grunted as he placed a cup of coffee aggressively in front of the eleven-year-old who seemed to have magically healed.

"Oh, the power of Coffee!" She yelled dramatically before taking a large sip. Lorelai couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing as Luke walked back to the counter while chanting some angry "Ai, ai, ai"'s under his breath.

"I'm so proud to call myself your mother,"

"Why, thank you!" Rory gave her mom a bow jokingly, the both of them laughing as they finished their breakfast.

Lorelai came home after work to find a man wearing a brown baseball cap backward and a red flannel shirt with a sleeveless coat on top sitting on her front porch steps with a toolbox beside him.

"Hey, you brought Burt!" She greeted Luke with a grin which he returned with a confused look on his face.

"Burt?" He asked as he stood up and followed her up the steps. She grabbed her keys from her purse and unlocked the door, walking outside with Luke following her suite.

"Your toolbox looks like a Burt," She explained as she closed the door behind him and led the way to the kitchen. Luke placed the toolbox on the kitchen table and looked at her with a ridiculous look on his face.

"My toolbox does not look like a Burt," he fought, but they both knew there was no point in doing so. Lorelai always got her way in fights.

"Would you prefer I called it Richard?" she suggested instead and Luke visibly cringed as a realization hit him and he knew what she was insinuating.

"No, Burt is just fine," He said quickly with a shaky sigh. "Gosh, you need serious help," he muttered but Lorelai only cackled.

"So how long have you been waiting outside? I hope I didn't make you wait out in the cold for too long!" She said as she went to grab something from the fridge.

"Nah, not too long. I only got here a few minutes before you did," he reassured her as he opened his toolbox and grabbed the tools that he would need to inspect and fix the sink.

"That's good. Beer?" She offered as she grabbed two bottles from the fridge and handed him one when he nodded yes, smiling at her appreciatively. He didn't waste any time. He turned on the sink to inspect the water then turned it back off. He then crouched down and opened the closet below to check out the water pipes or something, Lorelai assumed. She was completely ignorant and useless when it came to these things. She watched him work silently for about twenty minutes, occasionally taking a sip of his beer as he thought of what to do next, his eyebrows furrowed in in concentration. She found herself enjoying watching him work in silence, taking in his every movement with such interest, a passerby would think she was watching her favorite television show.

"So, are you, like, an undercover plumber?" She asked him after a while, breaking the silence. She couldn't stay quiet for too long. It just wasn't in her DNA. She was a very social person.

He gave her a 'you're crazy' look and only replied with "No."

"So you're just a full-time diner guy?" she wondered as she grabbed a box of strawberry-flavored pop tarts from one of the cupboards and placed the delicious food in the toaster.

"Yes," was all he said.

"Whale, sorry to bother you Mr. Monosyllabic man," she grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

"You could help instead of just sitting there doing nothing," he said as he tightened some screws under the sink.

"I am doing something. I'm toasting some pop tarts," she defended as she placed the toasted goodies on a plate. "Want one?" she offered and again, "No," was all he gave her.

"Pass me a flathead," he held his hand out expecting her to place it there but she only looked at him in confusion after searching through the toolbox. "the one with the slotted head," he explained and her mouth made an "O" shape when she recognized. She grabbed it and handed it to him. "Okay, can you open the tap right... now?" he asked and she did just that, gasping when the water came out orange for a second then it was all clear.

Luke cleared his throat as he stood up and patted his pants to dust them off.

"Luke, thank you! You have no idea how much trouble you've saved me!" Lorelai grinned at him excitedly. She got the urge to wrap her arms around his broad shoulders in a hug but she refrained herself, thinking it would just make things very awkward. Luke didn't seem like the type to hug.

"It's no big deal," he replied with a shrug and took a sip from his bottle of beer.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked him as she grabbed her pop tarts and took a bite from one. She offered him one again and he refused again. How could someone refuse a pop tart, she thought to herself. He was a crazy guy.

"Are you serious? You don't owe me anything. It was- it's my pleasure. Don't worry about it." He insisted and she looked at him with genuine surprise and gratitude.

"Thank you, Luke. Really," she said quietly with a grateful smile.

"Don't mention it," he replied with a small smile. There was a short silence that fell between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward at all. Lorelai was just the kind of person who didn't really enjoy the lack of a conversation when a person was present.

"So, have you always been good at fixing things?" she wondered, finishing her pop tart.

"Yeah, I guess so. My dad, he used to own a hardware store. So tools and you know, fixing things, it's kind of my thing," he explained and she nodded.

"Right, that explains the big 'William's Hardware' sign outside your diner," she said. It made better sense now. She had always wondered what it was all about but had never bothered to ask. She had figured that Luke was just maybe too lazy to take down the old sign, but it made better sense now.

"Yeah, I could never get myself to change it. I guess, it just feels like I'm honoring him by keeping it up," his voice was quiet as he spoke, staring aimlessly at the bottle of beer in his hand. She had never seen him in the little time that she'd known him look so vulnerable. He always seemed to have this huge, strong wall up, fighting and frightening away anyone that tried to pass it.

"So why did you turn the store into a diner? Has it always been a dream of yours to own a diner?" she asked him as she placed the now empty plate in the sink and stood beside him, looking up to meet his gaze. Lorelai was actually tall, standing at 5'8, so she didn't have to crane her neck up too much to meet his gaze.

"Well, I guess the hardware business wasn't really my thing. I didn't like dealing much with people. I knew how to cook, so I just thought turning it into a diner seemed like a good idea. It was horrible at first, but after a year, it became better and I actually started enjoying it. I moved into dad's office upstairs, you know after he and mom were gone, and Liz, that's my sister, moving to God knows where with her kid it only seemed logical to sell the old house and start a diner," he explained with a small chuckle at the end and a smile.

"You say you don't like to deal with people, so you open a diner?" she laughed at the ridiculousness of that sentence. He shook his head at her, completely ignoring her comment.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sympathetic smile, "about your family."

"It's alright. It gets better with time," he replied quietly, a bittersweet smile on his lips.

"What about you?" he wondered after a while, taking the last sip of beer.

"What about me?" she asked, looking up at him with slight confusion.

"Have you always wanted to run an inn?" he asked, looking down, his gentle eyes meeting her striking blue ones. Their voices had gotten a little quieter.

"I had no choice. When I first arrived there, I had practically nothing. It was just me and Rory. I wasn't even 18 yet, I didn't have my school diploma, I didn't have any cash. Mia found me there and saw how desperate I was. I don't know why she seemed to believe in me, so she gave me a job there, almost ten years ago. I started out as a maid, actually. It wasn't much, but it was actually more than enough for Rory and me," she recounted her story with a small smile on her face. She was really proud of herself right then. She had come a long way.

"That must have been really hard for you," Luke said, looking at her with a soft gaze.

"Yeah, it was at first. But we got through it. I mean, hey, look at us now," she opened her arms, motioning around her house. "We're here," she added with a proud smile.

"So, what is your dream?" he asked her after a few seconds of silence.

"I don't know... for as long as I can remember my dream has been to leave my old life. Well, that wish came true much earlier than I had anticipated. And then after that, my dream was to get Rory through school, get her into Harvard in a few years," she shrugged, folding her arms across her chest, thinking of what else she could dream of. But really, all she cared about right now was doing whatever was best for Rory.

"She'll get into Harvard. She's a bright kid. If only she'd listen and stop drinking coffee before it's too late though," he said and they both laughed, knowing full well that it was already too late for that.

"Yeah, she really is the best. She's been top of her class since kindergarten. She's the kid that everyone wishes they had, honestly." She thanked God every day for the daughter that she had. She wouldn't have wanted her life to play out any other way if it had meant having Rory.

She hadn't realized that the space between the two of them was barely existent right then. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a few seconds or minutes, Lorelai wasn't exactly sure. Luke cleared his throat after a while, and moved back, reality finally hitting them.

"So, uh, I should go," he said quietly, clearing his throat again and made his way out through the backdoor in the kitchen. Well, that moment was gone before it had even started. Lorelai sighed, pushing her hair out of her flushed face and walked into the living room with a groan. What was going on with her? She felt like she was back in high school all over again, and she hated that feeling.


	8. I Smell Snow

"Rory!" Lorelai whispered as she put her hand on her sleeping daughter's shoulder and shook it gently trying to wake up her up. "Rory, wake up!" she spoke a little louder this time. Rory whined in her sleep, her hands shooting up to her eyes to rub them due to her sleepiness.

"Mom, I'm trying to sleep here!" she whined as she flipped to her side, trying to block her mother's voice.

"Rory, come on, it's no time to be a lazy sleepyhead. Get out of bed," Lorelai insisted and pulled the covers off her daughter. The young girl curled up as the cold air hit her and she whined some more.

"What is it? It's like five in the morning," she muttered in frustration as she finally sat up in bed.

"5:13 am to be exact," her mother corrected, bouncing on her heels in great excitement.

"Ugh, so why are you waking me up?" Rory groaned, flopping back on her pillow. Lorelai wasn't going to have it. She grabbed Rory's arm and pulled her back up and completely off the bed. She dragged her all the way to the front door, handed her the blue coat off the coat hanger and she grabbed her own, slipping it on and zipping it up. She then proceeded by opening the door and stepping outside into the. old night air. A few moments later, a very grumpy Rory was standing beside her in her coat, shivering from the cold.

"Don't you smell it?" Lorelai exclaimed, staring at her daughter with a huge grin on her face and then turned to look up at the sky in excitement. She felt it. It was so close.

"No, Mom. I'm pretty sure you're the only person ever with those superpowers," Rory sighed, finally catching on to what her mother had meant and why she had woken her up on this ungodly hour of the morning.

"I smell snow," she said excitedly, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. "Any second now..." she whispered, biting down on her lower lip to refrain from squealing. She wrapped her arm around Rory, partly because she was freezing cold and because of her happiness and her need to share it with her daughter who was now also smiling widely, knowing full well her mother was right. Lorelai had never been wrong about snow. She could smell it right before it happened. It was like a sixth sense of hers. And every single time it was close to snowing, Lorelai would be jumping out of bed, waking Rory up and dragging them both outside to see it all happening. And every single time, it did. It would start snowing just as they stood outside, looking up at the moon until the sun had risen while tiny snowflakes covered their hair and painted their coats.

And soon enough, gentle snowflakes were falling all around them. Lorelai couldn't help herself anymore. She squealed in excitement quite loudly and started jumping up and down. Rory laughed at her ridiculous mother and couldn't help but jump around in the falling snow with her. The jumping helped warm them up so she didn't really mind the small, fun exercise.

"You girls having a good time?" They turned around to see their neighbor, Babette smiling and waving at them from her front lawn. They grinned at her excitedly and nodded their heads.

"Oh, the best time Babette!" Lorelai replied. They both had the silliest and biggest grins on their faces and they truly looked like the happiest two girls in the world right at that moment. Any random passerby could have never imagined the troubles and hard times that the twenty-seven-year-old and her eleven-year-old who were bouncing around on the street in front of their house had gone through.

When it had stopped snowing, the girls started throwing at each other snowballs from the snow that had settled on the ground all around them. They were yelping and laughing and screaming as they ran around, trying to hide and dodge flying snowballs. When they had finally gotten tired, they lied down on the snow making snow angels. When that had gotten annoying because they had gotten too cold from sitting down in the snow for too long, they decided to build a snowman. It was a horrible, tiny one that looked nothing like a snowman, but it had a stick for a nose and another stick for a mouth and two tiny sticks for eyes, and a huge branch cut into two smaller branches as arms. They named him Alfred.

It was time for them to get ready for school and work though so they went inside and got ready and dressed in their warmest clothes. They left a few minutes later and waved goodbye to Alfred. They were ridiculous and they knew it, but they didn't really care. They loved the way they entertained each other and they would never change it for the world.

 

"Oh, hold on a second, I forgot something," Lorelai said as they were just about to cross the street. She walked back to the house and came back a minute later with Luke's toolbox in her hands. He had forgotten it over on Saturday when he had sort of left in a hurry and she never got the chance to go over on Sunday and return it, well, because she was kind of avoiding doing so while she was trying to figure out what in the world had happened on Saturday. She still had no clue but she couldn't put off seeing him and giving him back his toolbox any longer. She didn't want to raise any suspicion in her daughter or someone else because there wasn't anything to raise suspicion about. Well, nothing she really knew of at least.

"Man, this thing is heavy," She grumbled as she walked down the street with her daughter right beside her. "How the heck does he carry it so easily? It's even heavier than you were when you were two,"

"Thanks, I guess?" Rory said, not quite sure if she should take that as a compliment or be offended that her mother thought she was heavy as a child but only slightly less heavy than a box filled with all sorts of heavy metallic tools.

"Do you know how hard it is to carry a sleeping toddler around?" Lorelai continued and Rory shook her head, pulling her coat closer to herself as a cold gust of wind was blowing.

"Well, I've never had the pleasure of carrying myself around. I'll get back to you on that when I find a sleeping toddler carry it around." Rory replied sarcastically and her mother looked at her with a jokingly threatening glare.

"Well, it better not be your toddler, at least, not until you're old and wrinkly," She said as Rory opened the door to the diner and walked inside, Lorelai following her into the warm place.

"I'm not quite sure I will be able to have a kid when I'm old and wrinkly," she stated matter of factly and removed her coat and hat.

"Oh, well, I guess it will just be you, me and Alfred," she said with a grin which Rory returned.

"Luke!" She greeting placing the very heavy toolbox on the counter. He raised an eyebrow at her, probably judging her for her lack of muscle strength. "Burt missed you," she said, sitting down on one of the red stools.

"Burt?" he asked in confusion, writing down a receipt and handing it to the man sitting beside her.

"Your toolbox?" She said with a "duh!" tone.

"Can you not name my toolbox at all?" he groaned as though it pained him to have his box be given a name.

"Now where's the fun in that?" She said with an exaggerated gasp.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a fun guy,"

"Clearly," Rory muttered with a roll of her eyes and he looked at her with disbelief all over his facial expression.

"Hey! I thought you were the nice and polite one between you two," he cried out as he cleared some plates off the counter.

"She has unfortunately corrupted by giving me her genes," Rory replied with an apologetic shrug. She wasn't actually apologetic for sharing Lorelai's genes and it was quite obvious. She was actually proud to be her mother's daughter. Who wouldn't be, right?

"You're most welcome!" Lorelai grinned at Rory and ruffled her hair a little. The kid scrunched her nose and swatted her mother's hand away.

"I gotta run or I'll be late for class. Can I have a bagel and some coffee please?" She asked Luke with an innocent smile. He was reluctant but gave her the coffee with her bagel anyway.

The girls both gasped, shared a look of disbelief between each other and then turned with the same expression on their faces that included wide blue eyes and mouths in shape of the letter O to look at Luke.

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't fight you. So what? It's no use with you two. You are unbelievable," he muttered with a defeated sigh. Rory laughed at waved goodbye at the two adults before making her way out to get to school.

"But- but, you can't just give up! How else are we gonna get our daily morning entertainment?" Lorelai complained with feigned sadness on her face expressed by her pouty lips.

"Find another source of entertainment. Gossip with Miss Patty and Babette, mock Taylor, I don't know. You two are the creative ones," he suggested as he placed another mug of coffee in front of Lorelai.

"But it's not the same!" Lorelai whined, pouting some more as Luke gave her an apathetic look. He was probably the first person in the world to ever resist her pouty look beside her mother, of course. She concluded that it must be taking him a lot of willpower not to be phased by it.

"Yeah, well, unfortunately, I don't really care," he gave her the evilest of smiles and she flipped her hair, refusing to let him get to her.

"Whatever. You can't upset me. It's snowing outside. Nothing can bring down my high spirits when it's snowing." She told him and he looked at her with disgust and hatred expressing his true feelings toward snow.

"Seriously? Snow is the worst. It gets in your shoes and your clothes and then you're all dripping wet and freezing cold to the bone and the next day you're sick and getting your disgusting snot all over the place, coughing and sneezing and shivering," He shuddered in horror. "I hate it."

"What don't you hate though?" Lorelai said with an actual look of interest on her face. She really wanted to know what Luke did not hate. He seemed to have negative thoughts and feelings towards literally everything in this world.

He looked at her for a few seconds in silence, as though he was really thinking it over. It looked like he was trying to solve a terribly difficult equation in math. He shrugged after a few seconds, having not come up with anything. "I hate everything," he said and Lorelai shook her head at him.

"How can you hate everything? There are so many blessings in this world like burgers, pancakes, pop tarts, mac and cheese? How can you hate Mac and Cheese? Or, or, uh, good music, like Bono, or XTC or Steely Dan, if you're into that kind of music," she started ranting and he nodded much to her surprise.

"Steely Dan's not bad," he agreed and honestly, she had never felt more surprised by anyone before.

"Well, they're not the best but hey, you see? Not everything's hate-worthy, my friend!"

"Not everything's a blessing either," he muttered and she rolled her eyes.

"You are way too negative for your own good." She sighed as she put her beanie back on. "Well, I am going to work. I hope you that stick in your butt falls out sometime soon. It'll really help you see things from a way better perspective, oh, believe me-," he cut her off with an annoyed and pleading expression.

"Just leave, please!"

"Sheesh! Tone the 'tude down!" she rolled her eyes as she got up and placed a few dollar bills on the counter. "Bye McGrumpy Pants, see you later Burt!" she waved at the lumberjack in front of her and then at the toolbox. Luke seemed just about ready to throw a screwdriver at her. She grinned and dashed right out of there just as Luke yelled, "STOP CALLING MY TOOLBOX BURT!"

She couldn't the laughter that erupted from her as she walked back to her car to drive to the inn. It was a good day. Any day with snow was always a great day. Or, so she thought.

 

When she got to the inn, her clothes were all white with snow and her teeth were jittering but she had the widest grin on her face as she rubbed her hands together near the fireplace in the lobby trying to warm herself up. Once she had stopped shivering, she walked into the kitchen to get her second cup of hot coffee, under the pretense that she only wanted to stay warm. She grinned at Sookie who was busy rolling up some dough.

"Hey Sook, whatcha baking?" she asked her friend as she poured some coffee from the freshly made pot into a cup.

"I'm trying this new recipe for my peach pie," she explained as she jumped toward the stove to stir something that was currently boiling in a pan.

"Where's everyone else?" Lorelai wondered as she took notice of the empty kitchen. Usually, it would have been filled with chefs running around the place and following Sookie's every order.

"Oh, I sent the home. They were being very unhelpful and useless," the chef answered casually, pulling a spatula up to her mouth and tasting the sauce she was cooking. "Mhm, come try this. I think I've finally found the secret!" Lorelai complied and approached her friend, taking the spatula from her and tasting the sauce. Her eyes widened at the sweet and heavenly taste.

"Sookie! That is amazing! Oh my gosh, you need to make more! A lot more. This sauce, Sookie, this is the future. It's revolutionary. It's going to take the inn's restaurant to a whole new level!" Lorelai gushed as she took another spoonful of the heavenly sauce in the pan.

"It's good, isn't it?" Sookie grinned excitedly and Lorelai nodded in agreement.

"It's amazing."

She then remembered that the whole kitchen was empty and she sighed, holding her friend's shoulders and looking into her eyes with a serious look on her face. "Sookie, you can't just give the employees a day off because they were bugging you or not doing their work," she tried to knock some sense into her. Sookie sighed in frustration and replied defensively:

"But, they were getting in the way of my beautiful creation!" she complained and Lorelai fought hard not to crack a smile.

"Well, now you've created it. So call them back in, please. They're not being paid for taking days off." just as she said those words, she turned around to see the whole kitchen crew glaring at Sookie with their arms folded over their chests.

"She is crazy! She is-," Jose, the sous-chef, started yelling while pointing a finger at the chef standing before him, but she cut him off by shoving the spatula in his mouth. That instantly shut him up as he tasted her beautiful creation.

"It's great, isn't it?" She said and Lorelai's eyes crinkled as she smiled in amusement. She walked back to the front desk to start her work for the day but as she was walking out there, she took a few steps back as a familiar figure came into sight. She stood there, frozen for a few moments until the man standing before her noticed her. His eyes lit up with a smile and in just two long strides, he was standing right in front of her, engulfing her in a hug.

"Hey, Lor!" he exclaimed. "This place looks great!"

"Christopher..." she murmured, trying to comprehend what the heck was going on. What was he doing here?


	9. Promises

"Hey, Lor!" he exclaimed. "This place looks great!"

"Christopher..." she murmured, trying to comprehend what the heck was going on. What was he doing here? Her hand shot up to his back, patting it awkwardly until he pulled away from the hug, not noticing the awkwardness that Lorelai had felt or maybe just ignoring it. "Christopher, what are you doing here?" she asked, clearing her throat and smoothing down her shirt. Her fingers fiddled nervously with the hem of her sleeves as Christopher grinned at her. It was in that moment that she noticed he was holding what looked like a motorcyclist's helmet. "You bought a motorcycle?" she questioned, eyeing the helmet nervously.

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet. You wanna check it out?"

Lorelai's eyes widened a little and she shook her head. "No, it's alright. It's pretty cold outside, so," she cleared her throat and pointed to the couch near the fireplace. "Let's sit down."

"Sure." She watched him walk all the way across the room to the seating area and could only find the strength to move her feet that seemed to be stuck to the ground with superglue after he had sat down and was looking at her expectantly. "Hey, what's wrong? You seem a little spooked," he asked with a small laugh and a little concern in his brow. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. How about you? How have you been doing lately? We haven't heard from you in while," she asked as she sat down on the other side of the couch, making sure to keep some distance between them.

"Right, I'm sorry I haven't been able to call lately. I felt guilty about that and I was passing through New York so I thought I'd pass through here first, see how my girls are doing," he smiled, getting closer to her and sitting back on the couch with his arm laid out on the back of it.

"Well, we're doing just fine. Rory's in school right now but she'll be coming back here when school's over. She likes to do her homework at the front desk. I'm not sure why but she says she can focus best over there, which doesn't really make sense because that's where it gets busy the most. She's an odd one," she told Christopher with a small laugh as she thought of her daughter's weird antics.

"She takes after her mother," he chuckled and she shoved him to the side with her shoulder gently.

"That just means she got the better genes," she defended and Christopher nodded in agreement.

"Can't deny those facts,"

"Oh, you flatter me, Hayden."

They both chuckled before an awkward silence fell between them. After a few moments of complete and utter silence, Christopher cleared his throat.

"So what time does Rory get out of school?"

"3:00 pm," Lorelai replied and silence fell between them again, until she decided to break it. "Do you wanna wait for her here? I need to get back to work but you can sit here and wait for her if you wanted to."

"Uh, yeah, sure. If that's okay with you."

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be okay with me?" She looked at him like he was the most ridiculous person ever.

"Alright. Great. So, I'll be waiting right here." He patted the couch and smiled at her as she stood up.

"Alrighty!" she forced a smile, giving him an awkward thumbs-up before walking back to the front desk to get back to work.

For an entire hour, Lorelai sat behind the desk staring at Christopher who was sitting on the couch, fiddling idly with his thumbs and staring at the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the world. When he got bored of doing that, he grabbed one of the many magazines on the coffee table in front of the couch and started going through the pages but she doubted he was really reading the articles. The second she had finally mustered up the energy to go back to work, he got up and walked toward her. He rang the bell that was on the desk and grinned childishly at her.

"Hi," he waved at her. She raised an eyebrow at him, glancing up at him for a second before returning her focus back to the numbers on the paper in her hands.

"Hey," she replied, absentmindedly chewing on the eraser part of her pencil. She scribbled a few things on the paper with Christopher staring at her the whole time.

"Whatcha doing there?" He leaned over the desk, trying to look at whatever is written on the paper in her hand.

"Organizing receipts and budgets, you know, number related things," she replied vaguely, still very focused on her work. Christopher nodded with no real interest in what she was talking about. He started tapping his fingers on the surface of the desk, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. After a lot of tapping and shifting, it was getting harder for Lorelai to concentrate. So she intervened.

"Hey, Chris, if you're really bored, you can leave and come back," she suggested and he seemed tempted by that idea but he just shook his head, like he only wanted to stay to prove something to himself or to her, she wasn't sure what it was though. Or why. She wasn't really sure of anything at this point.

"Nah, it's cool. I can wait until Rory comes back in..." He looked at his watch his eyes widening a little. He let out a breath and small laugh. "In five hours." They both knew that he couldn't last another hour.

"Chris, what are you even doing here?" She finally asked him, looking up at him and meeting his confused gaze.

"What do you mean? I told you. I'm only here to check up on you guys," he answered, but she didn't exactly believe him. He never came just to check up on them. If he wanted to just check up, he would have called. She knew him well.

"Christopher," she said and he sighed, his gaze shifting to the ground, refusing to meets hers.

"I wanna- I want to be more involved," he breathed out the words so quickly, Lorelai had to take a second to comprehend.

"Uhm, you want to be more involved in what?" She had never felt as lost as she did right at that moment. She was having a hard time understanding and wrapping her mind around what Chris wanted. She had an idea, but it couldn't be. She just couldn't believe that Christopher wanted to get more involved in her and her daughter's life.

"I wanna be a part of Rory's life. Look, before you say anything, let me say my part first. Okay? Listen, Lorelai, I know I've been away and kind of lost but I'm doing better now. I know that I want to be in Rory's life. It seems like you don't need me financially, and I'm so proud of you. And honestly, I'm a bit embarrassed that I probably can't help out anyway. But I have a job interview in New York for a firm, it has to do with computers, you know, they're the next big thing so it could be something really good for me. I just want to be there for Rory, you know, be a part of her life emotionally. Be a father to her." He was looking at Lorelai with a small smile on his lips and with his brown eyes hopeful and pleading her to believe him. "I love her, you know. I miss her."

"Christopher," She breathed out, refusing to meet his eyes that had always made her weak. She couldn't. "Chris, honey, I know you love Rory more than anything else in this world and I know you really miss her. But do you really expect me to believe that you can keep your promise? I mean it only took you eleven years to figure this out-,"

He was quick to cut her off there.

"You say that like it was my fault like it wasn't you who ran off with her to God knows where." He snapped at her, really not helping his case.

She looked up then, finally meeting his gaze, her blue eyes turned ice cold. "You think I had a choice? You think I wanted to run away from what could have been a safe life and jump into the unknown with a two-year-old at my hip?" she spat through gritted teeth. She was really thankful that the inn was currently empty because of the terrible weather. She didn't like to cause a scene. "Out of everyone in my life, I thought you would be the only to understand that I didn't have a choice if I wanted to protect my child."

"Our child," he corrected her and she couldn't help but let out a small, bitter chuckle.

"Yeah, Chris, our child. The one that's currently the happiest child I know because she is away from all the negativity and anxiety that comes with the pleasure of living with the Gilmores or the Haydens," she said quietly, not a hint of regret in her words.

"Don't get my family into this," he defended. She couldn't believe him right in that second. Wasn't he the young boy who had always dreamed of running away with her and traveling the world, away from all the chaos that are their families?

"Oh, you mean the family that would have forced me to get an abortion if it weren't for my father who had suggested we get married and you get a job at his firm?" Her voice was rising with every word. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. Come on Lorelai, think of snow. Think of the smell of snow. It didn't help.

"At least then I would have been included in Rory's life."

"CHRIS! The only reason why you're not in Rory's life is that you can't be a part of it. I have never denied you the chance to be there for her and to see her or talk to her. You are her father, Christopher. You have just as much the right to see her as I do. But unfortunately, you're not the person who can be there for her. And you know it which is exactly why it has taken you eleven years to ask for this. And unfortunately, you still haven't found what you want or even who you are. I'm sorry Chris, but I know you better than you know yourself. I'm only trying to be a mother to Rory by protecting her feelings. I won't stand here and let you get her hopes up only to crush them again after you promise her to be a constant in her life and then disappear for some reason. I can't stop you from seeing her. It's really all up to her. If she wants to see you then she can see you. But so help me, if she's hurt," she let out a shaky breath, burying her face in her hands. She tried to take deep breaths trying to relax and tone down the anger that had built up in her chest. She didn't know how long had passed with her just standing there with her face in her hands, trying to slow down her breathing but when she finally looked up, she met Chris's eyes. He looked so broken, it made her feel terrible.

"I'm sorry, Lorelai. I know I can't be the father Rory deserves. But I really want to. I want to- well, I'm not really sure I know I want. I have no idea where my life is heading next, and here you are, with an actual job, doing something with your life. I mean, I'm jealous," he sighed, pulling his hair back in frustration. Lorelai let out a small, bittersweet laugh.

"You'll figure out someday. It takes time. I mean, for the longest time I didn't know what I wanted. Until I got Rory. When that little girl was born, I just took one look in her eyes and I knew I wanted to be the best mother I could be to her. The mother she deserves. The one who makes her proud. I knew she would make proud no matter what. But I had to make her proud. And that's why I needed to leave, go out there. So that she doesn't have to suffer like I did in that house, and so that I can be the person worthy of raising a kid like Rory." She explained and Chris looked at her with an expression of awe on his face.

"I really admire you, Lor. I could have never done what you did. I'm hopeless."

"You're not hopeless, Chris. You'll find what you're meant for soon, just like I did," she gave him a genuine smile which he couldn't return.

"What if I don't though?" he whispered, chewing down on his bottom lip in anger and a little bit of fear. He was scared of not knowing where his life was headed and honestly, Lorelai could relate to him. For the longest time, she had felt like that, right until her life had finally started to settle down when she moved to Stars Hollow a few weeks ago. She had finally made it and as soon as she had, that feeling had disappeared.

"You'll find the right job for you, the right place and the right people who will help you get to that point in your life where that feeling that's weighing you down will finally go away. Mine did, very recently," she smiled with a little bit of pride in it.

"Rory is honestly the luckiest kid to have you as her mom. You're like cool Mom and cool Dad all in one. What do I have? A cool motorcycle."

"Right, by the way, under no circumstances is Rory getting on that thing. Ever." She looked him in the eyes with the most serious and threatening look in her eyes.

"What? Don't you trust me?" he looked slightly offended but he knew where she was coming from.

"I trust you, Chris. It's the other crazy drivers or the bad weather or anything else that I don't trust," she exclaimed and he sighed, agreeing with her.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want her on that bike while a drunk is behind the wheel somewhere."

"I wouldn't want you on that bike while a drunk is behind the wheel somewhere either," she said with a little bit of worry in her voice. He sent her a small smile and took her hand in his. 

"Listen, Lor, I know you think that I might hurt Rory. Which is why I promise you I won't make her any promises I can't keep but I wanna play a bigger role in her life. I wanna take her out to lunch whenever I'm near town, or take her to wherever it is that she likes to go to," he started.

"That's the library," she informed him and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Seriously? The library? That's in neither one of our genes..."

"Well, two negatives make a positive right?" she said with a laugh and he laughed along with her. "How about you pick her up from school today? NOT on your bike. You can walk her home and then you can talk to her. It's really up to her. I'm sure she wants you to be more involved. She's a smart girl. She knows what's best for her. But I'm trusting you, Christopher. Please, don't let us down."

"I won't. I promise you, Lorelai. You won't regret this." She walked over to him from behind the desk and he wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in a tight hug. "Thank you. For being the best mom in the world to Rory. I really don't know how you did it," he spoke quietly as he gently ran his hand up and down her back. She hugged him back, burying her face in his neck, a feeling both familiar and foreign to her now.

"I honestly don't know either,"

They stayed in this position for what felt like forever, until Lorelai heard some footsteps approaching. She pulled away from Christopher's warmth and her eyes widened in surprise at the figure standing in the doorway with the most annoyed look on his face in the world. "I really hate the snow," he was grumbling, dusting off the snowflakes from his cap.

"Hey, Luke. What are you doing here?" She asked him, the surprise in her voice quite evident. He eyed Christopher as though he didn't know what to make of him.

"Uh, Mia, she called me." He replied, his eyes snapping back to Lorelai. "Said some of the heaters in the rooms weren't working and the guys who were supposed to fix them were stuck in the snowstorm, so she asked if I could help," his voice faltered a little at the end as his eyes turned to Christopher again. The other man just stood there in silence, a little awkwardly. He took Lorelai's hand in his again and she didn't pull away, although the movement did confuse her a little. Where did all that come from? She wondered to herself.

"Is this a bad? I can come back later if you want," Luke asked her and she shook her head, this time letting go of Christopher's hand.

"Oh, no, not at all. Come one, I'll show you the rooms," she told him as she walked to the front desk and grabbed the notebook that had the rooms with the malfunctioning heaters written down. "Aha, here we are," she spoke to herself as she found the notebook and opened it to the right page. She walked up the very short flight of stairs to get to the bedrooms and knocked on the first one to make sure that it was vacated, Luke standing awkwardly behind her with his toolbox in his hand. She was kind of thankful that Chris had stayed behind in the lobby, she wasn't exactly sure why. She used her master key to open the door to the empty room. "Alright, here we are. So, it's just two heaters that aren't working but Mia left a note to check out all the heaters to make sure they're all still working fine... so, uh, I'll be right back, take all the time you need, with the uh, heater in here," she spoke very professionally.

"Right," he said awkwardly and made his way past her and into the bedroom.

"Right," she muttered and made her way back to the lobby to check on Chris but it was empty. She walked outside into the cold air, hoping to catch him but he was gone, and so was his bike. She let out a shaky breath, pushing her hair back from her face. She shivered but it wasn't because of the cold air that was blowing. She sighed as she walked back inside, closing the door behind her. She stood there in the empty lobby for a few minutes, her thoughts racing at a million miles a minute. She was beyond lost, an uneasy feeling heavy on her chest, but she had no idea what to make of it.

"Hey, Lorelai," Luke's voice dragged her back to reality and she looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"Yep?" she asked, for a second forgetting what he was even doing here.

"I fixed the first heater," he told her and she finally snapped fully back to reality.

"Oh, right, right. Alright, let's get to the other room then." There was forced enthusiasm in her voice as she pushed passed the man in the plaid shirt and opened the door to the other bedroom.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly, a little concern evident in his voice. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Yup. Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She wasn't really but she wasn't exactly sure why she wasn't okay so she couldn't really explain that to him.

"Nothing... just asking," his voice was almost inaudible. She wouldn't have caught his words if it weren't for the unusual quietness that had fallen on the inn and their close proximity. Luke didn't say anything else for the next hour as he fixed the heaters. Conversations between them were kept minimal and meaningless really. Right before he left, he sent her a lopsided grin and said, "Burt says goodbye." she figured he was trying to cheer up her clearly deeply bothered and upset self. It almost worked. A small smile stretched on her lips, a silent thank you in her eyes.   
"Bye, Burt," she mumbled, waving goodbye at Luke as he got in his truck and drove off.

She really had to get herself together and figure out what was up.

"Who's Burt?" Sookie asked, standing behind Lorelai and making her jump in fear.

"Sookie! Don't walk up behind me like that!"

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic, sheepish grin. "Who's Burt though?"

Lorelai chuckled, shaking her head a little at the ridiculousness of her answer. "Luke's toolbox."

Sookie snickered with a look of disbelief on her face. "He seriously named his toolbox? He seriously named his toolbox Burt?"

"Well, actually, I named it Burt." Lorelai corrected and Sookie gave her a knowing smirk but didn't say anything. "What? What's with that look?" she demanded and Sookie shrugged.

"Nothing. Just you, naming Luke's toolbox, Luke Mr. Grumpy Pants who hates the whole world and is angry about everything letting you name his toolbox," Sookie said as she walked back to the kitchen, Lorelai following right after her.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded again and Sookie just sighed at her.

"Nothing, it doesn't mean anything." They both knew it meant a lot, but Lorelai wasn't sure what. She wasn't sure of anything at this point.

When she got home that evening, she found Rory sitting at the kitchen table with a textbook in front of her.

"Hey sweetie, how was your day at school?" she asked her, pressing a soft kiss on Rory's forehead. She opened the fridge and grabbed a soda can, cracking it open and taking a large gulp.

"It was alright. Dad, he came to pick me up," she said with an excited grin on her face. Lorelai looked at her in surprise, her hand stopping midway as she was about to set the soda can on the table. She recovered quickly, placing the can on the table and pulling out a chair to sit down facing Rory.

"Yeah, he came on a motorcycle. Did you know he bought a new bike?" she asked, turning her attention back to the book.

"Uh, yeah, he passed by the inn earlier," she looked at her daughter with a little bit of concern. "You didn't- you didn't get on that bike, did you?"

"Oh, God, no!" Relief washed over Lorelai and she found herself smiling at her daughter. Well, at least he kept that promise. "He walked me home. He didn't mention anything about the inn, though." Lorelai was a little bit surprised that he didn't mention it to Rory but she tried not to make anything of it.

"Yeah, that's weird," she said absentmindedly while taking another sip of her drink.

"He told me he's going to be calling more often and he'll try and visit us more. Well, he's never really visited us much before. But he said he'll try and come more often." Rory told her mom with joy in her voice and a feeling of fear made its way through to Lorelai's heart.

"Hey, honey, uhm, you know you shouldn't get your hopes up much, I know you love your dad and you miss him a lot, I do too, but-," Lorelai started but Rory cut her off with a small and sad smile.

"I know Mom. He might not keep his promise. And that's okay. I won't get my hopes too high. But I am going to look forward to the times when he comes or calls," Rory reassured and Lorelai nodded, holding her hand out on the table and Rory placed her hand in her mother's, who laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand, a comforting act.

"I love you, Rory. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know, Mom. That's why I'm careful. No boy will ever break the Lorelais' hearts!" she said and Lorelai couldn't help herself but laugh.

"Yeah! That's my girl!" she grinned proudly at her baby and got up, wrapping her arms around her tightly. The hugged for a few minutes and when they finally pulled away, Lorelai's stomach made a funny noise. They laughed at it and Lorelai asked Rory what she wanted for dinner. "I'm starving!"

"Dinner at Luke's?" Rory suggested. Lorelai was hesitant a little. She tried not to make it too obvious to Rory. She finally nodded and turned around to grab her keys and her coat. Rory put on her shoes and grabbed her coat and they made their way in comfortable silence through the snow to Luke's Diner.

He wasn't in there to greet them at first. They sat down at the empty table near the back window, waiting for Luke to appear, and he did about five minutes later. He came out from behind the curtain that Lorelai assumed led to his late father's office which he had turned into his home, looking disheveled with his cheeks flushed. The one odd thing about it all is the blank expression on his face. Did he just have a good time or did he just come back from a fight? No one could tell. It took him a few seconds to notice Rory and Lorelai and the other customers who were ready to order or had just finished their dinner. How long had he been up there? He fixed his hair under his hat and walked to the girls with two menus in his hand. He handed them the menus and turned to the other customers to take their orders or clear their table without saying a single word. Why was he acting so weird? Lorelai shared a look with Rory, telepathically asking her if she knew what was up with their dear friend but Rory only shrugged, just as oblivious as she was to what was going on inside that man's head. A few minutes later, a woman walked into the diner from the same place that Luke had appeared from earlier, a perturbed look on her face.

"I'll be back later," she told Luke before dashing outside into the cold. He froze for a few seconds, watching her cross the street. Lorelai glanced up at his face, noticing just how vulnerable he was right then. It was similar to that vulnerable look he had on while he was telling her about his father the other day. The look was soon replaced with a stony one, his face turning blank again just as fast as the vulnerable one had appeared. If you weren't paying attention, you might have missed it. Lorelai didn't miss it. She didn't say anything though, knowing that Luke would shut her out. It was what she did during similar times.

"Are you two ready to order?" he muttered, standing by their table when he realized that Lorelai was staring at him.

"Uh, yeah, I'll have a double cheeseburger with some chili fries and coffee," she ordered, sending him a sympathetic smile which he completely ignored. Okay, then, grumpy.

"I'll just have a turkey sandwich with some fries, please," Rory ordered, a little bit scared of this quiet Luke. Angry Luke? They were used to him. Annoyed Luke? All the better. He was fun Luke. Happy Luke? Weird but a nice change sometimes. Expressionless Luke though? Now he was downright scary.

He didn't say another word. He went to the kitchen to make their dinner. The girls made small talk, but they were both silently worrying about Luke. He came back a few minutes, placed their pates aggressively on their table and then disappeared again.

"You don't have to take it out on the food," Lorelai muttered with a roll of her eyes, kind of annoyed with his attitude right now. They ate in silence, occasionally making small talk. When they were done, Luke slammed the receipt on the table and walked off. Lorelai placed a twenty-dollar bill on the table and smiled at Rory. "Hey, hon, why don't you go on home? I'll follow you. I just wanna make sure everything's okay," she told her, squeezing her shoulders reassuringly and Rory nodded before making her way outside.

Lorelai followed Luke into the storage room. She found him sitting on one of the boxes with his head in his hands. He looked up at her when he saw her there, and snapped, "Customers aren't allowed in the back."

"And here I was thinking we were starting a very special friendship," she said in a cold tone as she approached him and he rolled his eyes at her, throwing a ketchup bottle around in his hands.

"What do you want, Lorelai?" he muttered coldly without looking at her.

"Just making sure you're doing okay. 'Cause that's what's friends do, right?" she replied, emphasizing the word "friend."

"Right," was all he said, still looking down at his shoes and playing around with the bottle of ketchup. They stayed there in an awkward silence for some time but Lorelai refused to leave until she made sure that Luke was okay, and when he finally caught on to that he looked up at her and said in anger, "Look, I'm fine, alright? You don't have stay here to check up on me. In fact, I don't want you to. I would like to be alone. You can leave now, thank you." His voice had gotten louder with every word but Lorelai wasn't the slightest bit phased.

"I get your angry, Luke, but you don't have to take it out on me. Unless I've done something to upset you," she said, recalling the previous encounter at the inn with Christopher.

"No, you didn't do anything. Not everything's about you, Lorelai." He snapped at her and it was her turn to get mad now. She squinted her eyes at him in anger and folded her arms across her chest.

"I'm just trying to help here, Luke. Don't take it out on me because you're upset with someone else."

"Well, how do you know that I'm not upset with you?" He said, and she looked at him in confusion for a second. What the heck for?

"What did I even do? Come to check on you to see if you're doing okay because I give a damn? Is that what upset you, huh? Someone giving a damn?" she was beyond pissed off right now and her blood was boiling in anger. She couldn't understand what the heck was going on with Luke, as hard as she did try to comprehend, and it frustrated her that she wasn't able to.

"Look, it doesn't matter, you didn't do anything. You care, you don't care? What difference does it make? I have Rachel, you got that other guy, it doesn't matter. Nothing really matters." And with that, he pushed past her and into the diner. 

She stood there for a moment as she tried to digest what the hell had just come out of Luke. When she finally rushed into the diner to catch him and demand an explanation, he was nowhere to be seen. She let out a grunt of frustration and dashed out of there in the direction of her house. 

When she got there, Rory was sound asleep in her bed. She kissed her forehead goodnight and went up the bedroom. She sat down in bed for hours, recounting her whole conversation with Luke, trying to make sense of it, but nothing really made sense. What did he mean when he mentioned Rachel? Who was Rachel? Was it that blond girl that had left the diner earlier? And why did he mention that she had another guy? What 'other' guy? Other than whom? Did he mean Christopher? She buried her face in her pillow and screamed as loud as possible, her voice coming out muffled. She was beyond confused and beyond frustrated. Luke Danes, what the hell are you doing to me? She thought to herself as she laid there, staring up at the ceiling. 

She didn't get any sleep that night.


	10. A Series of Unfortunate Events... And Some More

It was 7:30 in the morning and Lorelai Gilmore was still fast asleep. Rory had been awake for the past hour and had found it a little odd that her mother was not up and about as she usually would have been making noisy raucous around the house. She wasn't exactly a morning person, but she was always a chirpy kind of person, as long as coffee was in her system, in her hands, or is just about to be. She didn't think much of the fact that her mother was rather very quiet and thought that maybe, for a change, she had decided to get ready quietly. The peace and quiet did not bother her at all as she ran the hairbrush through her long and soft brown hair trying to untangle it and make it presentable. As she was pulling up her hair in a ponytail, the young girl decided to check on her mom. It wasn't worrying when it had still been half past six in the morning, but once it had been over an hour of a quiet Lorelai, well, that could only mean she was dead or just wasn't currently at home. Which wasn't the case. As the girl trudged up the flight of stairs to reach the upstairs level, she finally broke the unusual eerie silence that had fallen on the Gilmore Household in charming Happyville, also known as Stars Hollow.   
"Hey, Mom. You're going to be late for work if we don't leave the house right away. Mom, are you even alive?" Rory yelled, sounding angrier and more concerned with each word that she was uttering. She knocked on her mother's bedroom door to make sure that she wasn't about to walk in on something she wouldn't want to see. She had learned that the hard way when she accidentally walked in on her mother in a bra and wondering out loud whether it was normal to have a "right boob larger than a left boob."   
"Mom?" She spoke again as she opened the door. Lorelai was still fast asleep, curled up under her covers, looking as comfortable as ever. Rory didn't want to wake her up because she looked so peaceful but she had to since her mother really had to get to work. She stood right above her mother and yelled, "MOM!"   
Lorelai was barely even phased. She opened her eyes to meet Rory's with the most confused look on her face ever.   
"What's with the yelling? My head hurts," she spoke quietly and closed her eyes again.

"Mom, are you okay?" Rory asked a little quieter this time. She placed the back of her hand on Lorelai's forehead, her eyes widening in worry and concern. "Jeez, Mom, you're burning up," she said as she got up frantically and searched the house for a thermometer. 

Lorelai grinned lopsidedly without even opening her eyes. "Yep, men usually do call me sizzlin' hot!" She cackled a little but regretted it instantly because she fell into a coughing fit halfway through her tiny laughing session.

"Mom, I'm serious. I think you're coming down with something," Rory reprimanded her as though some Freaky Friday freakiness had fallen upon them and they had suddenly switched roles. She came back and sat down on the side of her bed, placing a thermometer in her mother's mouth. "Don't move." She ordered and Lorelai rolled her eyes at her bossy daughter, but still listened to her advice.   
A moment later, Rory came back with a cold, wet cloth and placed it on her mother's forehead. She grabbed the thermometer and frowned at it.

"You have a really high fever," the eleven-year-old stated just as a series of annoying sneezes left Lorelai. "Oh, jeez. You're staying in bed today. Away from me. I can't catch whatever it is that you have caught," Rory grimaced and got up from the bed.

"Yeah, I don't," sneeze, "think I have the," sneeze, "power to leave," cough, "the bed," she sighed as she grabbed a tissue from the box next to her bed and blew her nose. Her face distorted at the disgusting tissue paper and she swung it at the garbage can all the way next to the door, missing it miserably. In fact, it had barely reached the foot of her bed. She blamed her weakness from having caught the flu, but in reality, it was only her lack of athleticism.

"Alright so I'm going to school now, do you want me to call the inn and tell them you won't be able to make it? I can ask Sookie to make you, and me, of course, some comfort food?" Rory asked as she grabbed her backpack, slinging on her shoulder. "Oh, I told you about the field trip that my class was taking today to the Museum of Modern Arts, right? We'll be coming back a little late, Miss Wiltshire said we'll be back at around six in the afternoon, at the latest."

"I'm fine, sweetie, you go ahead. I'll call myself. Can you just hand me the- thanks, hon," She smiled at her daughter who handed her the phone and then sent her a flying kiss. "And yes, you did tell about the field trip, only about, a billion times."

"Oh, and, I'm going to pass by Luke's Diner for some coffee too, do you want anything?" She asked as she was turning to leave, completely ignoring her mother's sarcastic comment about her mentioning frequently the field trip she was so excited about.

 

Lorelai frowned a little as memories of the previous night came back to her. Wasn't snow supposed to be her best friend? And look at her now, having had the worst possible night, and an even worse morning.

 

"Uh, no, I'll be fine, sweetheart. Thank you. Have a great day at school!"

 

"Bye, Mom. Love you," she smiled at her before turning around and making her way downstairs.

 

"Love you too, angel," Lorelai replied just as another coughing fit hit her. She groaned as her head pounded. Oh, this was going to be absolutely the worse day ever.

 

When she heard the front door close once her daughter had left, she dialed the number to the inn and Mia's voice greeted her cheerfully.

 

"Good morning! This is The Independence Inn. How may I help you?"

 

"Hey, Mia, it's me, Lorelai," she said, her voice muffled and her m's sounding very close to b's because of her stuffy nose.

 

"Hey, honey," Mia's voice softened as she caught on to what Lorelai was about to say. "Are you doing alright?"

 

"Yeaaah, well, not really. I think I caught the flu or something. I don't think I'll be able to make it," She sighed and coughed a little, her head pounding in her skull. This was a nightmare.

 

"Don't worry about it! You take care of yourself and feel better soon, alright? Hey, I'll have Sookie make you something good to help you. Do you need anything? Meds, or, or-,"

 

"Mia," She cut her off with a laugh, "I'm okay, I have everything I need. But hey, Sookie's baking wouldn't be too bad," she emphasized on the word 'baking.' She could really go with some of her famous brownies right now.

 

"I'll go tell her right now! I hope you feel better soon, sweetheart," She said and Lorelai could hear the sympathetic smile in her voice.

 

"Thank, Mia. I hope so too."

 

She hung up and let out a long sigh, dreading the painful day to come. She placed her feet on the floor, wincing at the icy cold surface against her bare feet and pulled the soft blanket over her shoulders. The blanket was not going to leave her side today under no circumstances. She put on her fluffy bunny slippers and stood up real slow, mainly because she had no energy but also because she feared her head start spinning. She slowly walked downstairs and to the kitchen and opened the cabinet where all the medicines were placed. She found the meds to help with the fever and the headache and swallowed the pills with some water. She then walked horribly slow with the blanket still tightly wrapped around her to the fridge, shivering at the cold air that came from it. Were fridges really that cold? Huh...

 

Not so surprising, the only thing that was in there was some orange juice, a milk carton and some leftover Chinese food.

 

"Nope," she grunted and closed the fridge. She then started the coffee machine to get her daily dose. If she was going to endure this day, she had to get some coffee in her system. She also found the box of pop tarts and popped a few in the toaster. When her coffee and pop tarts were ready, she made her way to the living room, put a DVD in and started her long day of trying to fight the flu and making herself feel better by having a movie marathon. It was going to be a really long day.

Meanwhile, Rory made her way through the cold morning air, bundled up tightly in her coat, to Luke's Diner. She smiled as she walked inside, the bells that sounded and the smell of freshly made coffee bringing her comfort. She knew that kids her age usually did not like coffee, and they shouldn't like coffee, or simply were not allowed to have some, but honestly, ever since she had accidentally taken a sip from her mother's mug a few years ago thinking that it was actually soda, she was practically addicted. She supposed that it ran in the family. Her mother tended to drink over three cups on a daily basis and every time they went over to her grandparents' home in Hartford during the holidays, she would note how her grandmother also drank several cups as well when dessert was served and when they would retire to the drawing room after dinner.

She smiled at the man sitting behind the counter, completely ignoring all of his customers. Was he still in a bad mood? She had forgotten to ask her mother what had happened yesterday after she had left. She made a mental note to ask her, thinking that it would probably be a little bit awkward to ask Luke himself. She liked Luke and she felt like he was an important figure in her and her mother's life and not just because he made great food and incredible coffee. He was just the kind of person who was good way under that hard and angry exterior. "Hey Luke," she greeted him, his head instantly shooting up upon hearing her voice. His eyes were wide as he looked around and they finally landed on Rory, a disoriented look on his face.

"Hey, Rory. Where's- Where's your mom?" He asked her as he stood up, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. She really wanted to know what they had talked about the previous night. Luke had the same shirt he had on earlier and he seemed very jumpy and lost, kind of like a stray puppy.

"She's at home," she explained and sat down on one of the red stools at the counter. "I think she has the flu. She looks horrible, I kinda feel bad for her."

"Oh, is she okay? Does she need anything?" he was quick to ask, worry painting his facial expressions.

"She has a fever and she's sneezing a lot but I think she'll be okay," she said with a small, reassuring smile.

"Oh, okay. That's good," he mumbled and sat back down behind the counter. A guy waved at him, asking for his check but Luke didn't even notice. He was too focused in his own little world. Rory snapped her fingers, and he looked at her in annoyance. "What?" he demanded and she rolled her eyes.

"That poor old man's been trying to grab your attention for so long," she said, pointing at the customer who was getting angrier by the second. Luke sighed, walked over to the guy and slammed a paper on the table before making his way back to the counter. Well, he was definitely still as pissed off as he was the day before.

"Alrighty, can I please have some coffee and a donut?" she asked him with a sigh of relief when he complied without even fighting her. He hasn't really been in the mood to get into a silly argument with them lately which was getting a bit annoying, she usually enjoyed it. But she was kind if relieved today because she was tired herself and really needed her coffee right at that moment. She mumbled a thank you and waved goodbye before heading to school. She was really excited about her field trip. She really enjoyed learning new things without having to open her textbook. Well, she liked her textbook but it was nice to have a small change for a day.

Meanwhile back home, Lorelai was already on her third movie when the doorbell rang. She was watching Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and her favorite scene was just about to come on! She groaned in frustration as she pressed pause and stood up, trudging to the door. She opened, feeling only the slightest bit better when she saw that it was her dear friend Sookie carrying food with her.

"Hey, I come bearing presents!" She announced as she pushed passed Lorelai and was about to the kitchen but Lorelai spoke up, stopping her.

"No, we're not going in there. It's cold and uncomfy. We're going to the germ infested living room because it's warm and cozy," she tried to grin but really, she just looked horrible and Sookie noticed how poorly she looked.

"Aw, you poor thing. You look like a mama bird chewed my famous Mac and Cheese (which I made just for you, by the way) and then spat it right out to feed to her children baby birds but they couldn't digest so they ended up throwing it all up," Sookie said as she made her way into the dark and messy living room and placed the trays of food on the coffee table.

"Whoa! Sookie! That just made me feel so much better! I think I've suddenly healed! How will I ever repay you!" Lorelai said sarcastically, an offended look clear on her face.

"What? I'm just saying. You look terrible," Sookie replied with a shrug as though that would make her sick friend feel better. It really didn't. "Why is it so dark in here? You need light. It will help you feel better sooner," she walked over to the windows and pulled back the curtains, Lorelai's eyes squinting as she tried to adjust to the light that came in.

"Did you have to do that?" she grumbled as she slumped back on the couch, pulling the covers tighter around her frail body.

"Yes, I did. Now stop complaining and start eating. I need to head back to the inn, the kitchen was a mess when I left. Kind of my fault. But if I find out that you ate all the brownies before the special dish I made you-,"

"Aww, you made me brownies?" Lorelai smiled at her with gratitude and appreciation, leaning over to the table to grab the plate of brownies. She pouted when she couldn't smell the heavenly chocolaty odor of freshly baked brownies because of her stuffed nose. She hated being sick.

"Yes, and you better eat the Mac n Cheese first, missy!"

"Yes, mom." Lorelai rolled her eyes and placed the brownies back on the table and grabbed the other bowl of the tasty dish.

"Are you going to be okay, hon?" Sookie asked her with a sympathetic smile and Lorelai nodded with a smile right before sneezing. "Oh, no you're not. Do you want me to stay? I can stay,"

"No you can't" "No I can't," they both said at the same time and they chuckled a little.

"It's okay, Sook. I'll be fine. I got my movies, got my food, got some relaxing music, Rory will be home soon to take care of her favorite dear mother, I'll be okay," She reassured her friend with a smile and a thumbs up. Although she did currently feel like she was about to die, she was going to be okay as long as she got to eat the brownies and finish watching Willy Wonka.

"Alrighty, but you call if you need anything at all, okay?" Sookie insisted and Lorelai nodded.

"Yes, Sook, I'll call. Bye now!" She practically shoved her friend out the door. When Sookie was gone, she bundled herself back up under her warm blanket and grabbed the bowl of Mac and Cheese, diving right in as the movie continued. The only good thing that came out of catching the flu was that she got to chill at home with her movies and food on a weekday. It was almost utopian. Almost being the keyword.

The rest of her day was quite uneventful. The most exciting thing that happened was when she had almost dropped the brownies but caught the plate right before it had reached the floor. There were annoying times too, like that sneezed that refused to come out except for when her favorite scene during the fifth movie she was on was playing. She watched a total of six movies. Well, five and a half because she fell asleep into a deep nap during that last one. It wasn't that the movie was boring, but she was just so tired from all the sneezing and laying around that she couldn't help but fall asleep. She woke up sometime later to the sound of thunder and heavy rain outside. Why was the weather being so weird? It was perfectly wonderful yesterday. Why couldn't it keep snowing? Why did it have to rain? She didn't exactly have as close as a friendship with rain as she did with snow. She sighed as she got up and made her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She was glad that her headache and the fever had subsided but her nose was still running and she was still coughing every so often. She walked back to the living room and plopped down on the couch, slowly sipping the water from her glass as she turned on the TV and started flipping through the many channels. She frowned as she came across the news channel that was broadcasting the horrible weather.

"The storm is getting worse by the second. Do not leave your houses if you want to stay safe as it is only getting more dangerous outside. We have received news of street signs and poles falling off because of the heavy winds,"

The doorbell rang just then and she frowned in confusion as she got up to open the door. Was it Rory? What time was it? Shouldn't Rory have come home by now? She opened the door, her daughter's name on the tip of her tongue but it was soon swallowed back when she saw that it was not, in fact, her daughter but a wet Luke, carrying with him a brown bag that had "Luke's Diner" on it. She suddenly felt a little self-cautious. She was currently wearing her pink pajamas that had cats on them, her hair was sticking up in weird angles, she didn't have any make-up on and she was pretty sure that she didn't exactly smell the greatest, having not showered yet that day.

"Uh, hey, I heard you were sick and I thought you would like some, uh, chicken soup. You know, it's healthy, tastes good. It should make you feel better," the man rambled on as soon as she opened the door, quite loudly to be heard over the heavy rain. She stood for a few seconds, staring up at him with wide blue eyes before finally snapping to reality and realizing that the poor man was standing in the cold rain.

"Luke, come in!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, away from the storm. He closed the door behind him and cleared his throat, a silence falling over him, the only sound coming from the tiny water droplets hitting the ground and the thunder that erupted outside. "Luke," Lorelai spoke after a while and sent him a shy smile. "You didn't have to do that. And why the heck are you driving in this weather? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she reprimanded him as she grabbed the bag from him and made her way to the kitchen. He followed her as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"It's no big deal. I just thought you might like some soup..." he replied quietly as he watched her settle down on one of the kitchen chairs and open the bag.

"It does smell really good," she announced as she grabbed a spoon ready to devour it. She hadn't had any food since Sookie had come over and that was a few hours ago.

"Hey, sit down. You're not going back out there until the storm calms down. I'm not having you killed, not while I can help it, mister!" she said as she started eating the soup, a satisfied smile appearing on her face at the delicious food. He chuckled, smiling at her and sat down on the chair opposite hers. She noticed after a few spoonfuls that he was still staring at her with that weird smile on his face.

"What? Is there something on my face?" she asked, self-consciously wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Nothing-," he started to say when suddenly the whole room was dark.

"What just happened?" Lorelai asked as worry hit her hard.

"I think it's a power outage. Do you have a flashlight?" He asked her, standing up, his defensive mode suddenly turned.

"Yeah, in that closet right there," She pointed to a closet in the hallway and he walked carefully in the darkness toward it. He rummaged through the closet for a few seconds until he found the flashlight, triumphantly holding it up and turning it on.

"Luke, what time is it?" Lorelai suddenly asked. He looked down at his watch, his eyes squinting in the dark.

"Uh, a quarter past seven. Why?"

"Crap." She muttered as she stood in a hurry, ready to make her way to the doorway, but she couldn't stand up straight. Her head started spinning from moving so fast and she had to lean on the table for a few seconds to steady herself.

"Hey, hey, easy now," Luke was at her side so fast with his hands holding her up so that she wouldn't fall down, his voice gentle. "What's wrong?" He asked her with worry in his soft eyes.

"Rory," was all she said as she made her way to the hallway and started putting on her shoes. She grabbed her coat and slipped into it just as Luke's hand wrapped around her elbow, stopping her from whatever she was about to do next.

 

"Whoa, hey, wait a minute. You're not going out in that storm. What's wrong with Rory? Where is she?" He asked her in a stern voice but there was concern and worry in it too and it only made her even more anxious.

"She- she was on a field trip with the school. She said they'd be back by six at the latest. It's currently seven. What if- Luke what if something happened? What if-," He cut her off by looking down at her with his jaw set and a determined look on his face.

"No 'what if's', alright? She's okay. I'm sure nothing happened to her, okay? I'll drive to the school right now and see what is going on down there." He grabbed his keys from his coat pocket and was about to walk outside but Lorelai stopped him by placing a gentle hand on his bicep.

"No, Luke, you can't drive in this storm. It's too dangerous- you can't-," She hadn't realized that tears of worry had started streaming down her cheeks until Luke surprised her by wrapping his arms around her smaller frame in a comforting hug.

"Hey, it's okay. It's gonna be okay, I promise. Rory's okay. She's a big girl, and she's strong and she's smarter than anyone I know. I'm sure she's taking care of her other classmates and her teachers wherever they are. Listen, we'll wait until the storm slows down a little and then we'll drive to her school and see what's going on, okay?" his words were comforting and she nodded her head, agreeing with him, but she couldn't help the tears that kept on coming. She was scared beyond comparison for her baby girl. She couldn't imagine ever losing her. She knew though, that where Rory was she wasn't scared and it made her feel slightly less worried.

They sat down by the kitchen table with a small radio that ran on batteries, listening quietly to the news, waiting for any change. Luke had his arm on the small of her back, gently rubbing comforting circles and that small act made her much less worried than she would have been if she was on her own.

She didn't know whether it was an hour or two that had passed, but finally, after what felt like forever, the heavy wind calmed down and there was only heavy rain left, drizzling on the windows.

"I can't wait any longer," she announced as she stood and made her way to the hallway. Luke followed her without a word with the flashlight in his hand. She put on her coat and the two of them ran to his truck that was parked right outside. He opened the door for her and helped her in before making his way to the driver's side and getting in himself. He turned on the heater and started the truck, not wasting another second before driving to the school.

"I'm going to regret this tomorrow when my fever's going to be over a billion," she muttered, staring out the window and the water droplets that came down hard on the surface.

Luke chuckled, glancing a little at him before turning his attention back to the road. There were street signs and branches all over the streets so he had to be extremely careful while making his way through town. "I'll bring you another bowl of soup, then." He replied with an amused smile. But deep down, it was obvious that he was still very worried about Rory and for some reason, it kind of made Lorelai's heart smile a little. Luke really was a sweet man all the way inside. The rest of the ride was silent. Worry grew heavier and heavier in the truck the closer they came to reaching the school. Neither one of them knew what to expect and it was frightening. Luckily, they reached the school safe and sound and Luke chuckled when he couldn't find a parking spot due to the hundreds of cars parked outside.

"I guess you're not the only crazy parent." He said as the truck came to a halt.

"I'd prefer the term worried sick," Lorelai replied and wasted no time in jumping out of the car. She pulled her coat closer to herself as she ran all the way inside, a couple of parents and Luke right behind her. She opened the double doors and walked inside faster than she thought possible, given her condition. She didn't know exactly where she was going. She was following the voices that got louder and louder the more she walked. Finally, she stood in front of the open doors of the gymnasium. She walked inside nervously and looked around. She could hear her heart beating so loud in her chest, it was deafening and unnerving.

"Mom!" she heard a girl yell. She turned around, disappointed to find a blonde girl running toward a woman with matching wet hair. She was about to turn back around when she heard a familiar voice yelling at her.

"Mom! What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy?" Rory was running toward her all the way from the other side of the gym and just then, Lorelai felt this huge weight lifted off her shoulders and it sort of made her lightheaded. But she grinned widely at her daughter, relieved and disbelieving.

"Ugh, Rory!" She said as she engulfed her in the tightest hug possible. She could feel the tears of relief pricking at her eyes. "Don't you ever scare me like that, ever again! You hear me? Ever!"

Rory only laughed as she hugged her mother back but then remembered that she was very sick and pulled away, making a funny face. "Ew, Mom, you're gonna give me all your disgusting germs now. Yuck!"

"Stop it, I was worried sick, Rory!" Lorelai said seriously and Rory looked at her apologetically.

"I know, I'm sorry. The storm started when we were about ten minutes away and then when we got here, they wouldn't let us leave until the storm had passed but then there was the power outage and I couldn't call you to tell you so I was stuck here in this smelly gym hoping that you wouldn't be crazy enough to come all the way here, but turns out you are crazy enough, and I'm not all that surprised. But you're going to be in a much worse condition tomorrow and you're here!" Rory finally took a deep breath and smiled widely at her mom, wrapping her arms around her really tightly.

"Oh, look, she remembered to breathe," Lorelai joked as she hugged her daughter back, running her finger through her hair. Rory rolled her eyes and hugged her mother closer. A little while later though she pulled away with a confused expression on her face.

"Uh, Mom, what is Luke doing here?" She pointed at Luke who was standing in the school hallway with his back turned to them, reading something that was on the bulletin board on the wall.

"Oh, he drove me here. I'd probably be dead if it weren't for him, honestly," Lorelai smiled while she looked at him. He turned around just then and sent Rory a smile.

"Hey, kid, I'm glad you're okay," He said as he approached the girls.

"Thanks, Luke," Rory replied with an appreciative smile. "I'm really glad I'm okay too." They laughed as they made their way back to the truck and squeezed themselves. Lorelai sat down in the middle, her leg and shoulder in contact with Luke's. A warm, tingly feeling was left where they touched but she ignored, blaming it on her fever that was probably coming back. They stopped at the Diner and Luke grabbed some coffee before dropping them off at their house. Lorelai kind of wanted him to stay but she no longer had the excuse of the storm outside. And anyway, it wouldn't have been appropriate to ask. She didn't have a real reason or excuse as to why she wanted that, she didn't even know why she felt that. So she chose to ignore him. She thanked him instead with a small hug which he returned and then made her way inside and watched as his truck pulled out of the driveway. She sighed as walked over to her daughter who was already making her way to the bathroom to shower.

"I'm getting your germs off," she announced and Lorelai laughed with a shake of her head.

"You do that honey," she sighed as she made her way upstairs and flopped down on her bed. She didn't have time to think for a second. The second her eyes had closed, the tiredness from all the worrying had finally hit her and she instantly fell asleep.


	11. Father-Daughter Disappointment

"Hey, Mom, I'm home," Rory yelled as she walked through the house, closing the door behind her. "Mom?" She called again when she heard no reply. She kicked off her shoes and hung her coat on the coat-hanger and made her way to the living room, following the television sound.

"Mom, why are you sitting in the dark?" Rory asked when she found her mother sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her crisscross applesauce style and a blanket wrapped around her. She had a bowl of popcorn in her lap and her hair was tied up in a messy bun. Her reading glasses hung low on her nose but she didn't bother to push them back up. She was that lazy.

"Shhh, it's the best part!" Lorelai shushed her daughter and patted the empty spot beside her. She didn't even bother turning around to look at Rory. The young girl complied anyway and flopped down next to her mom to watch the movie with her. She was currently watching Pulp Fiction and it was getting very interesting.

"I'm not sure I should be watching this movie," Rory mumbled as she grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed the food into her mouth.

"It doesn't matter. You've seen before already. And anyway you're way more mature than most twenty-year-olds. Now shush."

"You're still in your twenties," Rory pointed out with a smirk and Lorelai glanced at her from the corner of her eyes with a glare.

"I said shush," she snapped and Rory laughed quietly and turned her attention back to the movie that was playing on the screen.

"Whatsamatter? Oh, you were through anyway. Well, let me retort. Would you describe for me what Marsellus Wallace looks like?

What country you from!"

" What? "

" "What" ain't no country I know! Do they speak English in "What?""

"What?"

"English-motherfucker-can-you-speak-it?"

"Yes."

"Then you understand what I'm sayin'?"

"Yes."

"Now describe what Marsellus Wallace looks like!"

"What?"

"Say "What" again! C'mon, say "What" again! I dare ya, I double dare ya motherfucker, say "What" one more goddamn time!

Now describe to me what Marsellus Wallace looks like!"

"Well he's... he's... black –"

"- go on!"

" ...and he's... he's... bald –,"

" does he look like a bitch?!"

"What?"

gunshot

"Does-he-look-like-a-bitch?!"

" No."

"He's going to shoot him, isn't he?" Rory mumbled and Lorelai smirked and shushed her again. Rory rolled her eyes and kept on watching the movie.

" Then why did you try to fuck him like a bitch?!"

"I didn't."

"Oh, he's definitely dead," Rory grumbled and ate some more popcorn.

"Obviously," Lorelai replied with a chuckle.

"Yes, ya did Brett. Ya tried him. You ever read the Bible, Brett?"

"Yes."

"There's a passage I got memorized, seems appropriate for this situation:

Lorelai started jumping up and down in her seat in excitement. Rory gave her a look that told her 'you're ridiculous' but she chose to ignore her daughter and keep on watching one of the most iconic scenes in history.

"Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

several gunshots

Once the scene was over, Lorelai, a satisfied grin plastered on her face, finally turned her attention back to her daughter who was looking at her with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. "You know, sometimes I forget that you're the adult here," Rory said and Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"Ha, ha, you enjoy all the same things I do. we have exactly the same sense of humor. You can't judge me, kid!" She pointed a finger at Rory, staring at her with a lopsided grin. Rory pouted and swatted her mother's finger away.

"I had some news but I think I've decided not to tell you," she stated then as she got up and left the living room to the kitchen, knowing her mother would get up and follow her. She really loved teasing her.

Lorelai was up and sitting at the kitchen table faster than she could recite the alphabet. (She could probably win an award for that.) "News. Tell me. Now!" She demanded with a big, innocent grin. She propped her chin on the palm of her hand and had her elbow resting on the table as she looked expectantly at Rory. It was evident in her daughter's movements that she was reluctant to tell her because she wanted to stay mad at her a little longer, but her eyes were telling a whole different story. She was practically dying to reveal all that she had learned during the course of the day and Lorelai was literally on the edge of her seat. Her ears would have been perked up if her body was physically capable of doing so. She was only human though and could only do so much. Rory groaned, finally caving in and sat down in the seat opposite her mother's, a can of soda in her hands. She took a long sip before she started.

"So, this morning, I'm walking over to Luke's to get some coffee, right? And I have this long speech that I'm writing in my head to thank him for being so helpful to us yesterday with the storm and everything, and man, it was a really good speech. Big words and all,"

"Is that a grey hair on your head?" Lorelai intervened with an exaggerated expression of boredom on her face.

"Do you want to hear the story or not?" Rory rolled her eyes and Lorelai sighed with a small nod.

"Fine, fine. Go on,"

"Thank you. So, anyway, I go in and he's not there. So I ask Ceaser where Luke was and he just shrugged and said that Luke had left him a note, telling him to open up and he wasn't coming in. Weird, right? He's always there,"

"Huh, yeah, that is pretty weird. And unfortunate too. He promised me another bowl of soup," Lorelai muttered with a small scowl of disappointment, although she was a little intrigued by what Rory had to say next.

"Another bowl of soup? When did he get a bowl of soup?" Rory questioned her mom, a little look of confusion on her face.

"Yesterday, that's why he was with me when the whole scary thing happened. He heard I was sick so he brought soup." Lorelai smiled as she recalled his kind and thoughtful gesture but she was still a little bit bummed out by the fact that she wasn't getting another bowl of his actually delicious chicken soup on the day that she really needed it. The rain and the worrying are not a good combination when you've got the flu. She learned that the hard way.

"Yeah, I told him. He was wondering why I had come in all alone," Rory explained and Lorelai let out a soft aww.

"He noticed my absence!"

"Mom, no offense, but I don't think anyone could miss your absence. You tend to be loud and make your presence known."

Lorelai gasped, looking at her daughter with a hurt expression. "Full offense! That is a full offense!" she exclaimed really loudly.

"I rest my case," Rory said with a grin and Lorelai huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "Anyway, back to the story,"

Lorelai sat back up, excited to hear what was coming next.

"Babette and Miss Patty were there, as usual, gossiping about everything. They heard what Ceaser said so Patty goes, "Oh, I saw him get in his truck this morning with that camping bag of his," Rory tried to imitate Miss Patty's heavy, deep voice, failing sadly though. She continued, "Babette's face just goes like 'O'," Rory's face formed the shape of an O as though she had just made the biggest realization in the history of realizations.

"What? Why did her face do that?" Lorelai asked, her face imitating Rory's. Honestly, if someone had walked in right then and there they would think the girls were in a Charlie Chaplin movie.

"Well, apparently, according to Babette, the last time he went camping just like that, out of the blue, was when his sister left. He went for three days. And the one time before that was when his dad passed away," Rory's face softened a little as she felt sympathy for Luke. "He went for a whole week then. No one heard anything from him."

"Oh, wow. So he disappears when he loses someone..." Lorelai said quietly, trying to understand the reasons why he would disappear off to the woods. She wasn't surprised that he was an outdoorsy kind of person, but still, she hated the mention of woods and camping and anything that involved physical effort and not having the comfort of the great indoors.

"Yeah, usually when he goes camping, it's in the spring or during fishing season. He fishes," Rory had a surprised tone in her voice and Lorelai chuckled. Fishing really wasn't their thing at all. Or anything that didn't have to do with good music, books, magazines, or movies and snacks. "So him leaving right now, in the middle of winter, right after a storm might I add, it's really weird."

"What, did someone die?" Lorelai asked with concern and worry in her voice. Rory shrugged with an apprehensive look in her eyes.

"No, I don't think so at least. I mean, no one in town is mourning, right? And his whole family is here, except for his sister. So I doubt it. Maybe... Maybe he just needs some time away from people." Rory tried to come up with a reason behind Luke's actions. Lorelai was actually getting worried now. She really hoped he was doing okay.

"Yeah... maybe," she hoped that that was the case and nothing more.

They didn't see Luke for the next three days. When he finally came back, it was like he had never left. He acted normal, mostly annoyed with Lorelai and Rory, and angry at all his other customers. He wasn't moodier than usual or grumpier. Just normal old grumpy Luke. He never mentioned why he disappeared or anything about his disappearance. It was as if though it had never even happened. Lorelai was too afraid to ask him about it. She didn't want him getting all defensive and blocking her out. She was trying to avoid another scenario that would have been similar to the one in the storage room when she had confronted him about his excess grumpiness. She didn't want to fight with him again and she was sure that if she cornered him about it, he would shut her out and they would fight again. She would much rather have the old annoyed yet nice Luke back. And he was. Maybe a trip to the woods really does clear one's mind and conscious. She wasn't going to try it though. Ever. Not if her life depended on it. The two were back to their friendly bickering and it was nice. Lorelai did not mind it at all, even though she tried really hard to push away all the questions in the back of her mind about his weird actions a week earlier. She had few speculations but didn't want to jump the gun, so she felt it would be best to ignore them, and eventually forget about the whole thing. It was hard, but a few weeks after having him back and their bickering getting worse or actually better and more fun, she made it.

The holidays passed with the girls spending it at home, apart for theChristmas dinner in Hartford which had thankfully passed peacefully and the NewYear's Eve party that was thrown at the inn. Lorelai had gotten slightly drunk,and Rory had found it the funniest thing in the world. Her mother was evencrazier when she had alcohol in her system and it was hilarious. They went backto their usual daily routine after that. April was getting closer now and the weather was getting warmer and Lorelai was getting more and more excited. Spring was a good season. Snow would always be her favorite but spring was kind to her too. The colors were nice as well. It also meant her birthday was close. That evening was a bad evening though. She walked into Luke's with the sulking expression and slogged to the stools, settling down heavily on one of them, her head instantly meeting the cold counter. She groaned loudly and Luke chuckled, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't know we were switching roles today. Do I have to put lipstick on to be cheery?" Luke said as he poured a cup of coffee without Lorelai even asking him for one. It had become a sort of routine of theirs. She walks in, coffee gets poured in a cup.

"Well, the right shade does put you in a good mood instantly, but you can be grouchy too today. It's nice to have some grumpy company when you're feeling grumpy," She said with a heavy sigh as she sat up straight and took a huge sip of coffee. "Thanks," she added with an appreciative smile after taking that sip.

"No problem. So what's gotten you so grumpy?" He asked, pulling a stool and sitting down behind the counter. The diner was very quiet with barely any customers. Ironically, the diner owner preferred when it was quiet and peaceful apart for a certain someone's incapability of keeping quiet.

"I have to chaperone a bunch of middle-schoolers to a school dance," she told him with another groan.

"Why the heck would you sign up for something like that?" He asked as though it was the craziest thing in the world. Maybe it was.

"Well, I was forced into it!" She exclaimed and he looked at her disbelievingly.

"I highly doubt you were."

"Well... kind of."

"Uhu."

"Fine, I wasn't. But I had to agree."

"Why did you have to agree, Lorelai?" Luke was amused now and she hated it. She wanted him to be grumpy with her. Not find her horrible mood amusing.

"I was at Doose's just now buying groceries and this mom from Rory's school is there and she's like 'Oh, hey Lorelai! Oh my gosh! How are you! Oh, is Rory going to make it to the school dance?' and wow, no surprise there, Rory hadn't mentioned that to me. So I'm standing there awkwardly asking her what dance she was talking about and she's all like in her squeaky, condescending, tone 'Oh, you silly thing! The Father Daughter Dance!' and now I'm realizing why Rory didn't mention it to me and I wanna tell her that well, you know, Rory's dad isn't exactly in the picture and she's quickly making me go. She's like 'Oh, will we finally get to meet Rory's mysterious handsome father? Lorelai, you have to come and chaperone! It's for charity! It's a good cause!' So I'm so lost and confused, how does she know what Christopher looks like? And next thing I know I'm saying yes and now I'm chaperoning a dance my daughter probably doesn't wanna attend and gosh I am the worst! Luke, Rory is going to hate me!" When she finished her rant, she laid her head back on the cold surface, huffing heavily, trying to calm herself down.

"She's not going to hate you. I'm sure she'll understand how you absolutely had no choice but to agree!" his voice was dripping sarcasm and she glared at him, a small pout on her lips.

"Luke, seriously. I am the worst. I mean, now, I have to call Christopher and make him come so that Rory can have a good and special time, and I doubt he will even make it because that's just how he is and ugh, I'm horrible!"

"You're not horrible," he patted her back awkwardly and she pouted even more.

"I am absolutely horrible," she repeated in an angry tone.

"Yeah, maybe a little," he chuckled and she punched his shoulder gently as a joke.

"What am I going to do, Luke?" She asked him after a while of silence, desperation in her blue eyes. He shrugged, sitting back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest.

"I guess, you call Christopher, force him to come. Worse comes to worse, you wear a suit and dance with Rory!"

She couldn't help but laugh at that and Luke joined in on the laughter. She smiled at him softly and got up, ready to get back home and deal with the mess she had just started. "Thanks, Luke, that was some great advice!"

"Yeah, I'm considering switching businesses. Might become a therapist." He chuckled as he grabbed her now empty cup of coffee and put it away with the dirty dishes in the kitchen. She smiled in amusement, a soft laugh leaving her lips.

"Seriously though, thanks for letting me rant. I should go and deal with all of this though. See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow," he smiled at her and waved goodbye as she walked out and started walking back to her house. When she finally got there, Rory was studying so she decided not to bother her and disappoint her just yet.

"Hey, I'll be in my room if you need anything," she told her and kissed her forehead gently. Rory muttered a 'K', still too focused on her homework. Lorelai made her way upstairs, changed into her comfortable clothes (which consisted of sweatpants, a tee-shirt, and her fluffy socks) and sat on her bed eying the phone with dread. She really did not want to go through the phone call that she had to go through next. Finally, after a big sigh and some mental encouraging words such as "You can do this, Lorelai." And, "You're a big girl, Lorelai!" she finally dialed the number. She let out a big breath, trying to calm her nerves and chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she waited for Christopher to pick up the phone. When it went to voicemail, she let out a frustrated sigh and called him again.

"Come on, Christopher. Pick up the damn phone," she pleaded under her breath as she dialed the number for the third time. "The one time I really need you to pick up the phone, you don't." Her anger and desperation were starting to build up.

"Uh, hey, Chris. It's Lorelai. You're not answering which is a real bummer." There was a clear bitter undertone in her voice as she left the message on his answering machine. "I just wanted to tell you that Rory has this father-daughter dance this weekend at her school, and well, you know, you're her father. She is your daughter. So it'd be pretty cool if you can make it. Yep, anyway, yeah, I hope you're doing okay. Bye," she hung up the phone and closed her eyes, laying back down on her bed with her arm covering her face and silently cursing Rory's father. She wasn't surprised at all but she was still incredibly disappointed.

"Hey, Mom, can we order a pizza?" Rory called out from downstairs after some time. It was then that Lorelai realized she was starving and she jumped up immediately at the mention of food. She made her way downstairs and sat down on the couch where Rory had already been sitting with a novel in her lap.

"Yes! Please, one with everything on it. I am starving!" Lorelai exhaled, placing her feet on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Everything?" Rory questioned, giving her mom a worried glance. "Uh-oh. What's wrong?"

"Nothing? Psht. Why would there be something wrong?"

"You're a terrible liar. Now tell me what's wrong please," Rory said as she got up and grabbed the phone to order a pizza with everything on top, as per Lorelai's request.

"Okay but you have to promise you can't hate me," Lorelai looked at her daughter with pleading eyes.

The young girl raised an eyebrow at her mother, only stopping their conversation for a minute when the pizza place answered the phone and she told the order. When that was done, she sat back down beside her mom, turning to face her.

"Why would I hate you? Did you do something embarrassing? Did you do something that might embarrass me? Oh my gosh, you totally did!" She looked with wide eyes at her mother who had a guilty look and a sheepish grin spread across her face. "Mom, what happened?"

"Well... first of all, it's all your fault!" Lorelai defended herself.

"What? How is this my fault? I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Well, you didn't tell me about the dance you're having at school!"

"How did you find out?" Rory exclaimed, her blue eyes wide with horror.

"I was at Doose's and guess who I ran into? None other than Debbie freaking Fincher!"

"Who, Kathy's mom?" Rory wondered and Lorelai nodded.

"Yes, her. She was telling me about this dance that you never told me about and that I should absolutely come and chaperone and oh! Your 'handsome father' will definitely make an appearance!" Lorelai was complaining in a loud voice.

"My handsome father? What? Dad's coming?" Rory exclaimed in confusion.

"No, he's not coming! But Debbie would absolutely love to meet him!"

"What, why?"

"I don't know Rory, she's a crazy woman! Father-Daughter Dance. More like Father-Daughter Major Disappointment," Lorelai huffed loudly and pushed her hair off her face in frustration. She looked at her daughter, her eyes instantly softening with sympathy. "Why didn't you tell about the father-daughter dance?" she asked her, her voice gentle this time.

"Because I knew that you would end calling dad and then I would be disappointed because I know he wouldn't be able to make it. He hasn't called in weeks, which is fine, I know he's busy. But I didn't want us getting our hopes up and then having them crushed," Rory explained quietly, her eyes refusing to meet her mother's. She fiddled with the hem of the sleeves of her shirt. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Hey, it's okay. I understand why you didn't. Well, I'm kind of guilty of calling your father. And leaving a message on his answering machine because he never replied. And I doubt he will any time soon. But hey, you know what? I have a great solution. Well, it's actually Luke's idea-,"

"This is going to be a terrible idea."

"Hey! Don't knock it just yet! How about I put on a suit and I'll be your dance partner?" She grinned at her, wiggling her eyebrows excitedly

"But you're a spazzy dancer!" Rory complained but Lorelai could see that she was actually thinking this through.

"So are you!"

"Yeah, I've inherited all your terrible traits," Rory sighed as though that was the worst possible thing on earth, making her mother roll her eyes at her.

"But you also got all my amazing ones! You should be proud of those!" She laughed and hugged Rory tightly, pulling her closer.

"Hmm, I am kind of fond of those traits too!" She replied with a happy smile as she hugged her mother back.

"I love you, kid. I'd be honored to be your dad for the night!"

They both laughed just as the doorbell rang. Lorelai paid the pizza guy and walked back inside with a triumphant look on her face. She placed the box on the table and opened it, revealing the magical pizza with all sorts of different toppings.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, a masterpiece entitled 'Beauty in a Box'!" She made her voice sound deeper as though she was a presenter at some sort of show.

"Oh, Michael Angelo couldn't even compete!" Rory commented as she grabbed a slice, wasting no time in devouring it.

Twenty minutes later, the girls were lying on the couch with their legs sprawled out in front of them, the pizza box on the table empty aside for the occasional lone topping that had fallen off a slice.

"Oh, I feel like I am about to blow up!" Lorelai whined as she patted her full belly.

"We should compete in eating contests. We could definitely win with little determination."

Lorelai chuckled, shaking her head a little at that ridiculous suggestion. "Yes but we'd need someone to carry us right after," she pointed out.

"You're right. How about one of us eats and the other carries her back?" she suggested instead and she and her mother both laughed.

"Sounds great. The food at that contest better be good though!"

"We'll ask for samples the previous day."

"Shouldn't we starve ourselves before food contests to be able to store all that food in, though?" Lorelai wondered out loud and Rory shook her head.

"No, it's the opposite actually. You gotta warm up, practice well! It's a competitive sport!"

"Oh, yeah! It should be an Olympic sport. We would win gold medals!"

"We would be champions!"

The girls laughed in amusement at their completely absurd and silly ideas.

"Well, I think it's bedtime. Long day tomorrow," Lorelai said mid-yawn and stood up, stretching her arms.

"Why? It's Saturday. What's on our agenda?" Rory questioned her mother in slight confusion. Their Saturdays were usually very slow and unproductive days.

"Shopping for the dance, duh!" Lorelai replied with a 'pft'.

"Oh! We're definitely buying you a tuxedo!" The young girl announced with a definitive nod.

"I am definitely down to trying one out!" She laughed as she started making her way upstairs. "Goodnight, honey," she said, yawning again. She made her way up to her bedroom and the second her head hit her pillow, she was out like a light.


	12. The Dance

The next morning, the girls made their way to Luke's Diner and were babbling about the dance and their outfits the whole time as they drank their coffee.

"If you drink any more of that, you'll be dead before you can try on a dress, kid," Luke was telling Rory bitterly as he approached their table with his notepad in hand.

"Seriously, Luke, you need to tone down the negativity. We're not here for a long time, my friend. We're here for a good time." Lorelai replied with a tired sigh. She was so done with Luke's hatred and healthy lifestyle. Who cared about living ten years less than you were originally supposed to when your life is spent quite enjoyable, right?

"A very good time, indeed!" Rory agreed with her mother with a huge grin on her and took a large sip from her cup of coffee, really tempting Luke to just slap that cup right out of her small hands.

He rolled his eyes at the women who were laughing at him and snapped aggressively, "are you ready to order? You can both leave if you don't want anything."

"Aw, but we're enjoying the view!" Lorelai winked at him jokingly and gave a suggestive look as she leaned back in her seat exaggeratingly trying to steal a glance at the man's butt. Unfortunately for her, she was so subtle and almost fell back in her seat. She grabbed onto the side of the table just in time and sat up straight. "Aw jeez, that was very scary!" she breathed out, a look of horror on her face and her hands over her heart on her chest. She could feel her heart just about ready to jump out of her body.

Luke gave her a smirk, twirling his pencil between his fingers in amusement. "Well, you know what they say about Karma," he said with a small laugh. The other woman glared at him. He felt as though her striking blue eyes were about to pierce holes in his cheeks but the look she was giving him only made him breathe out another laugh.

"Well, you and Karma have that in common," she muttered under her breath and this time it was his turn to glare at her.

"Are you insinuating that I am a Bit-," he started but Lorelai cut him off with her loud voice, pointing at Rory.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, eleven-year-old sitting right here!" she snapped an eyebrow at her, pretty sure that this would not have been the first time Rory had heard someone swear. In fact, she had most probably heard it, oh, only about a million times coming out of her mother's mouth.

"Mom, we were watching Goodfellas just two days ago," Rory said with a roll of her eyes. "I've heard the word in that movie alone only about a hundred times, not to mention the times you-,"

"Okay, okay. We get it. You know swear words. Moving on. Can I get some pancakes, please?" Lorelai ordered, really annoyed by the amused smirks both her daughter and Luke were giving her.

"I'll have some eggs and bacon," Rory added to her order with a grin.

"Coming right up!" Luke told them and walked away to the kitchen to give Cesar their order and went to get the order of other customers.

The girls went back to talking about what sorts of dresses they were going to shop for. They also tried to guess what sort of dresses other the other girls in Rory's class who were attending the dance going to be wearing. She had a feeling Janet Allman was going to be wearing a star trek themed dress. Lorelai also believed that her mother who was also chaperoning might be wearing a matching one. When Luke brought over their food, he complained about how evil they were for making fun of other people's style.

"Luke, wearing a star trek dress is just ridiculous. We can't help it. It's like they're begging to be mocked!"

"There's nothing wrong with liking star trek!" He defended with frustration in his tone and the girls raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why are you being so defensive about this? Need I remind you that one time you made fun of this lady who was wearing Star Wars themed pants?" Lorelai smirked at him as she took a bite of her food and he glared at her.

"Those were absolutely ridiculous!"

"Well, it's the same thing!" she argued and he rolled his eyes at her. Rory was sitting there, happily eating her breakfast and enjoying their argument.

"No, it isn't. One is Star Wars and the other is Star Trek." He huffed and walked away in anger.

"Do you think he's secretly a Trekkie?" Rory asked and Lorelai laughed at the thought of Luke enjoying a fantasy, sci-fi shows such as Star Trek.

"Nah, Luke? That's just absurd," she said and Rory nodded in agreement. Luke hated anything television related. Of course he wasn't a Star Trek fan. Well, odd things did happen in this universe, but Lorelai just couldn't believe it. She couldn't imagine Luke sitting in front of the television, waiting impatiently for the show to come on. It was just too weird and impossible. The only thing that guy probably watched was boring documentaries and the news.

When they finished their breakfast, they bid adieu to Luke and made their way to Lorelai's jeep to drive to the mall. He was still angry at them, which made Lorelai a little suspicious. Maybe he was a Trekkie after all. They had about ten hours before the dance. Just enough time for them to buy dresses. They drove to the mall and when they got there, there wasn't a single shop that they didn't go in. There weren't any nice dresses in any of the shops. Well, some were alright but they were either too long, or too short, or too pink, or too white, or too sparkly, or, the worst of all, too expensive. Lorelai wasn't ready to waste all her savings on a single dress just yet. Maybe in fifty years when Rory decided to get married and she had to buy her a wedding dress. After they had spent three hours running around the malls and trying on only about every single dress in half the shops, Lorelai decided that she just couldn't walk anymore. She was too tired. It was a bad day to wear heels. They made their way to the food court and Chinese food and some coffee. She needed a bit of caffeine to gain back her energy to be able to run around some more.

"We're never going to find a nice dress in time!" Rory complained, banging her head on the table.

"Hey, stop that!" Lorelai reached across the table and pushed her daughter's head off the table, "You're gonna get a bump. My make-up skills are good, but they're not that good. Plus, it's probably dirty."

Rory sighed and sat back up with her arms folded across her chest. "This is a disaster. Do we really have to go?" she picked up her chopsticks and twirled the noodles around.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to, sweetie," her mother told her with a soft smile.

"But you already promised the PTA that you'd chaperone."

"Hey, I'd gladly blow them off for you, kid." They both chuckled and finished their lunch in silence.

"I mean, I guess it'll be fun," Rory said after a while, once she had finished her noodles.

"Yeah, it will! You and me, dancing all spazzy and embarrassing ourselves in beautiful dresses? We're gonna be the main conversational topic for weeks!" Lorelai gave her daughter a grin and a small sideways hug as they made their way out of the food court and back to the shops. "Come on, let's find you a dress, make you look gorgeous, make me look gorgeous, and blow them all away!" Rory smiled excitedly at that. They went through many shops after that until finally, after about five hours total of shopping, they found the perfect blue dress at the right price that wasn't too long or too short, it reached just above the knee, and didn't have any sparkles or too many ruffles. It was simple and brought out Rory's eyes just perfectly. Lorelai grinned at her and couldn't help but squeal and clap her hands in excitement as Rory gave her a twirl after she had tried it on.

"That's it! That's the one! Honey, you look beautiful! Take it off. We're buying it!" Rory ran back to the changing room in excitement and changed back into her jeans and sweater. They paid for the dress and grabbed a few pretzels and some soda before making their way back to the jeep parked outside.

They drove back home with only a few hours to spare before the dance. They both showered and got dressed as soon as they got home. Lorelai put on an old dress that she had, the only fancy thing she had brought back from home. It was probably the only dress her mother had bought her that she actually liked. It was navy blue and slim fit and it looked just gorgeous on her. It surprisingly still fit her and she smiled in satisfaction as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Hey, Rory, come over here if you want a little bit of makeup done!" She yelled as she added some mascara to her lashes. She dabbed a little bit of lipstick on and then grinned at her daughter who was now standing in the doorway of her bedroom. "How do I look?" she gave her a twirl and Rory grinned back at her.

"Oh, just dashing!" She replied with a posh accent.

"Why, thank you, young lady! Not too bad, yourself!" Lorelai answered with the same tone and they both laughed. Rory made her way over to her mother who quickly applied a little bit of blush and lipstick on her face. "Do you want some eyeshadow to bring out your eyes?"

"Nah, I don't want to be the center of attention. I should probably let the other girls get a little bit of attention too!"

"Wow, I am really rubbing off on you with the cockiness. I have never been prouder!" Lorelai pretended to wipe some tears from her eyes and Rory chuckled as she made her way back downstairs. She grabbed her purse and followed her outside to the car.

"Oh, girls! You two look gorgeous!" Babette called out to them from her porch and they turned around to greet her.

"Hi Babette!" they said in unison and Lorelai added a "Thank you!"

"You two enjoy yourselves! Don't drink too much punch, okay?" she said and Lorelai shook her head.

"Yes, I'm sure the punch at a dance for a bunch of twelve-year-olds is going to be spiked," she said sarcastically with a small laugh and waved goodbye.

They got to the school shortly after just as Lane was walking inside in a traditional Korean dress with her parents trailing behind her. Rory ran over to her friend and they started gushing over how amazing their dresses were.

"Hey, Lane! Hey Mrs. Kim, Mr. Kim," Lorelai greeted the parents who gave her plastered, polite smiles.

"Hello, Lorelai," Mrs. Kim replied in that scary voice of hers. "So, Rory's father hasn't arrived yet?"

"No, he won't be attending," She replied with big, toothy smile. She was still a little bit hurt and disappointed but didn't want to show it for Rory's sake.

"Ah. It is only a Father-Daughter dance after all," Mrs. Kim replied and walked away.

"Yeah, didn't get the memo," Lorelai said sarcastically and Rory raised a questioning eyebrow. She brushed it off and they both made their way to their seats. The other moms came up to her every once in a while, asking if Rory's father was going to show up any time soon. She had to tell each one of them no, watch her go back to her friend, probably tell her what Lorelai had just told them, watch as another mom walked over, asked her the same question and walked away right after to tell her other friends in disbelief who sent another friend just to make sure. It happened only about ten times before she got really annoyed by the same question and got up, dragging Rory with her.

"Unbelievable, these mothers! You don't see them questioning Mrs. Drew!" Lorelai muttered as she dragged the two of them to the dance floor,

"That's because her husband's in the military," Rory replied with an amused smirk.

"Well- ugh!"

Rory laughed at that and the two of them started dancing to the song, forgetting all the other annoying PTA moms and enjoying their evening. Lane joined them next with her father, who looked a little bit uncomfortable, but he still tried to keep up with the three girls' silly dance moves. Lorelai gave him props for the effort he was putting in.

"Hey, what's Luke doing here?" Rory suddenly asked. Lorelai halted her movements as she turned around, following Rory's gaze. Sure enough, they landed on Luke who was standing in the doorway looking very awkward and horribly uncomfortable in a blue dress shirt and some black trousers. His hair was brushed back but his beard was still there, no surprise there. He spotted them just then and waved hello. They waved back at him, the look of surprise clear on their faces.

"I'm going to go find out if he has a secret daughter that he's here to dance with," Lorelai announced and walked over to Luke. Rory shrugged and turned back to her friend Lane. They were laughing and talking about something. Mr. Kim eventually got tired and stopped trying and decided to join Mrs. Kim at the table she was sitting at.

"Behold, the magic of a bath!" She said as she approached him and he rolled his eyes, looking a little self-consciously at his dress shoes.

"Hardy, har-har!" He bit back with a roll of his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, not even bothering to mask the surprise in her eyes and her tone.

He shrugged then, reaching back to scratch his neck. "I didn't see a motorcycle driving through town," he said, referring to Christopher's bike.

"Ah," she said in realization, looking down at her own feet, trying to mask her upset look as she thought of Rory's father.

"Yeah, I thought Rory might need a dance partner," he admitted and when Lorelai looked up at him with genuine shock, she noticed a soft rosy color in his cheeks.

"Luke... Wow, I don't-," she smiled at him really widely. She couldn't believe what he was just saying. That was probably the most thoughtful thing anyone had ever done for her daughter and her. She was honestly left speechless. "Luke, that's so nice of you. Thank you." She said genuinely and he smiled back at her.

"It's my pleasure." He replied with a smile. "You look really nice, by the way," he added and Lorelai found herself blushing a little.

"Thanks, Luke." She managed to say.

He walked back over to Rory and Lorelai stood there, watching the two of them. Luke was taken aback when Rory attacked him with a tight hug. He returned it after a few seconds of shock by wrapping his arm around her and patting her hair gently. Lorelai couldn't help the wide grin that appeared on her face as she watched her daughter lead the man onto the dance floor. The two of them were dancing kind of awkwardly but it looked like they were both having the time of their life, judging by their big smiles and the laughter that escaped their mouths every time one of them stepped on the other's foot. Lorelai found herself in the women's bathroom, drying her eyes and reapplying her mascara. She couldn't help the tears that had spilled over. They weren't sad tears though. On the contrary, they were happy. Seeing her little girl so elated and excited was the only thing she had ever wanted. It was the most beautiful thing to her. She was so thankful for Luke right at that moment. Even her heart was smiling. When she walked back out, she found the two of them sitting down, breathing heavily in tiredness from all the dancing.

"Hey, where did you go?" Rory asked as she took a sip of her punch. Lorelai had made sure earlier that it wasn't spiked. Babette's words had kind of made her paranoid. She was actually kind of disappointed to find out that it wasn't spiked.

"I just had to use the lady's room," She replied as she sat down next to Luke.

"You missed out on Luke's horrible robot dance!" Rory said with a giggle and Luke looked at her with a glare. His cheeks were red but Lorelai could tell he wasn't really angry but embarrassed.

"Aw, shoot! Really? Well, mister, you're going to have to do it again. I need to witness that."

"No way. Not gonna happen." He snapped back, folding his arms tightly.

"C'mon! Pretty please!" He refused to give in.

"It's okay Mom, I'm sure the guy with the camera got it all on tape!" Rory reassured her mother whose lips spread into the widest possible grin. The look on Luke's face though was more of a horrified one.

"What? That guy was filming us?" He screeched, his cheeks turning even redder and the girls laughed loudly at his reaction.

"I don't know. He might have been," Rory told him and he shook his head, pulling his hair back.

"I'm going to have a talk with the camera guy," he announced and got up immediately, making his way toward the poor guy who was probably a minute away from bawling his eyes out.

Lorelai smiled as she watched Luke walk away and turned her attention back to Rory. "So, you having a good time?" she asked her and was glad to see the enthusiastic nod her daughter gave her in response.

"It was really nice of you to tell Luke to come. I know it must have been really awkward for him to make it, but he did. It's great!"

"Well, believe or not, kid, I didn't ask him to come. It was all him," Lorelai admitted with a soft smile playing on her lips. Rory looked at her in surprise and disbelief.

"What? You seriously had nothing to do with this?" she questioned her mother who simply shook her head left and right.

"Nope. Well, I told him about the dance, but I didn't ask him to come. That was his idea. I'm just as surprised as you are," she explained and they both smiled in his direction as he was talking angrily to the camera guy.

"He cleans up good, doesn't he?" Lorelai said quietly as she watched him beg the guy in frustration to erase the tape.

"Yeah, it's still weird though, seeing him without the flannel shirts and his brown baseball cap," Rory replied and Lorelai chuckled quietly.

"He needs a new cap," She decided and Rory agreed with her. Luke walked back over right then with a frustrated look on his face. "He won't erase the tape?"

"No," Luke grumbled angrily. Lorelai laughed quietly and got up just as a slow song began to play. She held her hand out for him to take but he only looked at it in confusion.

"What?" he asked, only making her roll her eyes at him.

"Get up. Let's dance."

He gave her a questioning look but still complied. He grabbed her hand and stood up, following her to the dance floor where a few fathers were dancing with their daughters or the mothers because the kids were probably already too tired or too busy at the cupcake stand. Lorelai wrapped her arms around the taller man's shoulders and he gently and hesitantly placed his hands on her waist. It took them a few tries to find the right rhythm, and when they did, Lorelai found herself leaning her forehead on his shoulder as they swayed to the slow beat of the song. Luke had finally relaxed his tense shoulders and he seemed to be enjoying it after a while.

"Thank you," she spoke quietly sometime later, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"For what?"

"For doing this for Rory. You're the reason behind my kid's happiness today and I honestly can't thank you enough. It means the world to me." She pulled back to look at his face with a soft smile. He smiled back down at her, meeting her eyes and he shrugged.

"I told you, it's my pleasure. You know Rory's grown a lot on me. She deserves to be happy. She's a special kid, not like those really annoying big babies who whine and complain about everything," he told her and she chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What, like me?"

"You do complain about everything!" he stated and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, so do you, mister 'I'm grumpy all day every day'!"

"I'm not grumpy right now," he said quietly and she smiled up at him at that.

"Really? I thought dancing would be the one thing you'd be very bitter about," she admitted and he shook his head.

"Nah, not when you're dancing with the right person," he replied. Her eyebrows furrowed at that. "You don't have two left feet," he explained and she nodded in understanding, but she still felt like there was more to his words. She didn't want to probe though. They continued to dance in comfortable silence for the next few songs. Lorelai found herself staring into his eyes and he was looking back down at her with a content smile on his face. She had never seen that kind of smile on his face before.

"Your eyes," She said after a while, breaking their silence again. He raised an eyebrow at her as he replied quietly.

"What about my eyes?"

"There's a bit of brown in their blue," she explained as she stared more into them. She hadn't realized that before.

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm."

They fell into comfortable silence again. Lorelai had never felt so comfortable and so happy before. When the last song had played, she kind of parted away from his warmth reluctantly and walked to a sleepy Rory who was gossiping with Lane about Janet's dress that was, in fact, a Star Trek Dress. "Hey, girls, you ready to go, kid?" Lorelai asked Rory who nodded and stood up, hugging her friend goodbye. Luke walked them to the car and waved to them as they drove away before getting in his own truck.

"You look happy," Rory noted, smiling up at her mother.

"I am, kid." She replied, returning her smile. "What about you?"

"I am too," she grinned toothily at her mom who ruffled her hair. They got home shortly after and got dressed in their pajamas. Lorelai made her way to Rory's room once she had gotten out of her dress and into her comfy PJs and laid down beside her daughter on her bed. Rory scooted to the right to make more room for her mom. They wrapped their arms around each other and stared up at the ceiling with content smiles on their faces.

"I'm sorry your dad couldn't make it," Lorelai whispered into the silent night.

"It's okay," Rory shrugged. "It was nice having you and Luke," she noted with a small smirk toward her mom. "You guys were quite comfortable there,"

"Yeah, it was nice, I guess," Lorelai admitted quietly, thanking God for the lights being off so that Rory couldn't see her red cheeks.

"Hmm, you looked good together on the dancefloor," Rory added and Lorelai chuckled.

"Luke can dance," She said with a bit of shock laced with her words and Rory laughed at that, shocked herself.

"It's kind of weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's really weird."

"Hey, kid?" Lorelai wondered after a while, breaking their silence. "Uh, we've never had this conversation before." She wasn't exactly sure what she was about to tell her daughter. She was surprising herself right then. "How would you feel about me, you know, dating again?"

"Well, I'll be fine with it as long as the guy is." Her response made her eyes widen in surprise.

"What? What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded and Rory snickered as she explained.

"Well, you're kind of a lot to handle," she said.

"You're damn right I am! Proud of it, too!"

"I'm not entirely sure you should be." Lorelai gently smacked her daughter's shoulder jokingly, who only replied with a laugh.

"Are we talking about Luke here?" Rory asked after a few minutes and Lorelai was really quick to deny it.

"No! Why would I be talking about Luke? I'm just saying. In general," she mumbled the last part and Rory shrugged her shoulders at that, not entirely convinced by her mother's response.

"You're twenty-seven, Mom. You've been a single mom for almost twelve years now. You deserve a little bit of fun! Of course, I'm okay with it! Unless the guy is really ugly and annoying. And doesn't like Nirvana." Rory told her mom who smiled at her and nodded.

"You're right. If he doesn't like all those legends, he's getting dumped."

They both sighed and laid there for a few more minutes before tiredness really hit them and they both fell asleep in the same position that they were currently sitting in, big, happy smiles on their faces.


	13. Twenty-Eighth

"I'll be right with you." The man in the backward brown baseball cap spoke without even bothering to glance up from the files in his hands when he heard a new customer walk in through the door. He was too focused that Lorelai had to greet him twice before he had heard her and acknowledged her presence in the diner.

"Hey, Johnny Castle, whatcha readin'?" She asked him as she sat down on a stool in the busy diner, Rory sitting on the one right next to hers.

Luke glanced up at her with a lost expression on his face. "Johnny who?"

"Dirty Dancing? Patrick Swayze? No? Doesn't ring a bell? Not even a single tiny one?" Rory questioned him, practically begging him to tell her that he knew what she was talking about but unfortunately, the look on his face never faded.

"Oy, we really need to educate this mad," Lorelai sighed with a disappointed shake of her head.

"Why am I being compared to Patrick Swayze? Should I be insulted or flattered?" Luke turned to Rory to ask her. He didn't trust what Lorelai's response would have been if he would have asked her. She only grinned at him in a creepy way.

Rory chuckled and replied: "It's very flattering. She's comparing your dancing skills to Patrick's very sexy ones!"

Luke looked a little uncomfortable as he turned his attention back to the folders in his hands and cleared his throat, muttering an uncertain "thanks."

"Oh, you're most welcome!" Lorelai replied with the same creepy grin which made him even more uncomfortable. She decided to cut the man some slack and change the subject, to his relief. "So, what's gotten your mind elsewhere?" she asked him.

"Some food inspectors are coming to check out the diner any time this week, make sure everything is safe and in order, that I'm not violating any health safety laws or anything, so I'm just checking that we got everything in order over here. I have to be prepared for when they do decide to show up," he explained without even looking at the girls. He then proceeded to close the folder placed on the counter and walked over to the kitchen to check something out. Lorelai wasn't sure what he was doing exactly so she shrugged and asked him for some coffee.

"Hey, you know what? I thought I saw two new faces at the inn. They were wearing these important grey suits and they're bald and really scary. Maybe they're the food safety guys!" Lorelai told him as he poured her a cup of coffee with a small, teasing smirk. She knew those guys were only in town for a business meeting, one that had nothing to do with food safety, but she loved seeing the horrified look on Luke's face.

"Oh, yeah! I saw them walking into Al's Pancake World last night. Do you think this is the end of International Cuisine in Stars Hollow as we know it? Oh! I knew I should've tried that Moroccan couscous last week!" Rory went along with her mother's game, even adding a sad pout on her lips. Lorelai had truly never felt as proud and happy as she was right then to have Lorelai Leigh Gilmore as her daughter.

"Aw, jeez! You two are horrible people, just horrible!" Luke yelled at them as he finally realized they were just messing with him when they started laughing really hard at the terrified expression on his face. He grabbed the cup of coffee he had just poured Lorelai and was about to dump it all in the kitchen deciding she was not going to have any of his coffee today for being mean to him.

"Oh, no, Luke, not my coffee! Please! Not the coffee! I need the coffee! If I don't get the coffee, I stop the walking and the moving and when those stop the blabbing will never stop because then I have nothing better to do with my time and you don't want to listen to me blab all day because I know how annoying you find it and as amusing that is to me, you hate it which just makes me love it even more and that is not helping my case. Oh gosh, Luke, just give me back the coffee. I'm sorry!" Lorelai was ranting as she followed him behind the counter and into the kitchen. Luke had set the cup down and had his arms folded as he looked down at the woman who never stopped talking with a hint of amusement in his eyes. But the glare was still there. She figured it was because she was now behind the counter without his permission and she knew how much he hated that.

"You're behind the counter," he stated as he grabbed some plates and walked over to some customers, placing the food in front of them. Lorelai followed him like a lost puppy.

"I was mean. I'm sorry. Now can I please have my coffee?' Her blue eyes were pleading him now. He rolled his eyes, finally giving in and walked back over to where he had set down her cup in the kitchen and handed it to her.

"You better be sorry," he muttered and made his way to some other customers. She grinned at him widely as she finally got her coffee and yelled "Thank you," after him. Just then, Rory tapped her mother on the shoulder and pointed outside. The two bald men in grey suits who were in town for a business trip were headed toward the diner.

"Oh. My. God." Were the only words she could get out before her body started shaking as laughter started bubbling in her chest. She tried to hold it in for Luke's sake but she couldn't. The situation was just surreal. This had to be some sort of sign. It couldn't just be a coincidence. Lorelai and Rory were both snickering when Luke walked back over to the counter.

"What? What's so funny?" He demanded. Rory was the one who was able to control her laughter for a few seconds to point outside before going back to the laughing.

"Oh, the universe just really loved playing games with me, doesn't it," he bit harshly throwing his pencil down on the counter.

"What's gotten you so worked up, sugar?" Babette suddenly came out of nowhere and asked.

"The universe thinks it's really funny!" He stated and turned around, walking to the storage room in the back of the diner. The girls explained to Babette what had just happened and as soon as they were done, all three ladies were clutching their sides with laughter. Poor Luke. Why was the world so against him all the time? He came back out of the room with some more coffee beans and started filling the coffee maker, trying to keep himself busy to calm his nerves a little.

"Sorry, Luke," Rory said with a small grin but the sympathy in her eyes was still clear and sincere.

"Yeah, whatever," he mumbled, grabbed two menus and went over to hand them to the businessmen who were apparently there to talk things over with Taylor Doose. Whatever that man was up to, Luke just knew he wasn't going to like one bit. He decided not to ask though, trying his best to avoid a confrontation with the older man who always seemed to find new ways of bugging him. Lorelai had a totally different idea though. It was like her job here was to also find ways to bug Luke, whether it was directly or indirectly.

She walked up to Taylor as soon as he walked in and gave him that charming smile of hers. "Oh, hey, Taylor! How's your morning going?"

"Oh, just lovely, thank you, Lorelai!" The man replied.

"Of course! So, are you doing anything new in town?" She raised an eyebrow at him, nodding in the direction of the two businessmen. Taylor's eyes lit up with excitement and went on for what felt like forever telling her his news plans but that he wasn't going to tell her everything because he couldn't just yet. All the details would be given during the next town meeting.

"Alright. That's enough already! Why do you have to make it your life's mission to be a pain in my ass?" Luke pulled Lorelai away from Taylor, having had enough of his new "ideas" and was snapping at her in annoyance. She gave him a feigned expression of hurt, placing her hands on the left side of her chest, above her heart.

"What? Luke, it really hurts me that you think all I want to do is bother you when all I really care about is seeing your beautiful pearls when you smile wide!" She spoke so sarcastically it only made his blood boil even more.

"Oh, Mom, just leave him alone," Rory finally said as she got up and grabbed her backpack. "You should be getting to work."

"Ah, you're right. Well, Luke, it was nice teasing you. I'll see you at lunch?"

"No," He muttered and grabbed the now empty cups of coffee off the counter.

"Meet me here after school for lunch, kid," Lorelai told Rory who nodded in agreement and kissed her forehead before they separated. Just as Lorelai was gone, Rory dashed back into the diner and to Luke's side while he was tending to a customer.

"What are you doing here? Did you forget something?" He asked her as he took Kirk's order. Kirk was a young man who was kind of really weird and sometimes freaked her out but she knew he was harmless. His weird antics scared her a little, as funny as they were.

"No, I need to talk to you about something urgent." She told him and he stopped to look down at her with a little bit of concern in his eyes.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's great. Mom's twenty-eighth birthday is coming up on Saturday," She explained to him, following him back to the counter.

"So?"

"So, every year, Mom does something special for my birthday and I do something special for her birthday. Like last year, I made Sookie bake a batch of muffin tops for her and we threw her a small karaoke party at the inn. And for my birthday, she took me to an XTC concert in New York. That was more of a gift for both of us but it was still really special. This year I'm thinking since we're a part of this town, we could have a big party with everyone involved. She would love it, you know, as long as there are Martinis and some booze," Rory went on to explain to Luke who kept on looking at her with that same look he had before with his eyebrows raised as though it did not concern him at all.

"So?" he repeated himself again once she was done. Gosh, she could speak just as much as her mother. They were the same exact person. The only difference was their height and the fact that Rory more often than not had her nose stuffed in some sort of book.

"So," Rory repeated his word. "I need you to do me a big favor."

"No," he said simply, suspecting that she was going to ask for help. He hated parties so he was going to stay out of it. Plus, it would mean he would have to get a present and he absolutely hated that. He never knew what to get a person and it was also so awkward when they opened it and it turned out to be horrible.

"Come on, please, Luke. You don't have to do much. Just use your special cooking skills," Rory looked up at him with her blue eyes pleading him, the same way her mother had just a few minutes ago when she was begging to have her coffee back.

"My special cooking skills? Why can't you get Sookie to use hers?"

"Because she already is. She's in charge of the cake and the food for the party. You're only in charge of the breakfast part!"

He raised a knowing eyebrow at her and she caved, letting out a huff as she added, "And the hot dogs and burgers for the party. But you're getting the easier part! Come one, you won't even have to buy her a present. The breakfast will be the best gift ever."

He was tempted when he heard that he didn't have to bother himself with present shopping. "But how exactly is making her the same breakfast she has here every day going to be a wonderful present?" he wondered as he started clearing a table from the empty dishes once the customers had left.

"Well... you're going to make special coffee flavored pancakes with extra whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top," she gave him her most charming grin right then, one very similar to her mother's. He was just now realizing just how close the resemblance between the two really was. It was uncanny.

"Coffee flavored pancakes? Are you serious?" He asked her with a look of disbelief on his face. "She'll have a heart attack right then and there!"

"But she'll have the widest smile on her face while leaving this world! Come on, Luke! Don't you wanna see that pretty smile of hers?" Rory smiled at him while batting her eyelashes at him, reminding him really badly of Lorelai's smile. Yes, he admitted to himself, he really did want to.

"Okay! Alright! Fine! I'll do it. But if they turn out bad, because I'm not tasting them, she's still going to have to eat them!" He pointed a finger at her but she didn't care about the threat. The little girl was beyond ecstatic to hear the news. She flung her arms around the man's neck in a tight hug. When she realized how awkward it must have been though, she pulled away and cleared her throat. The grin never left her face though. She was way too excited.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She chanted as she ran out of the diner and to her school that was just around the corner before she was late.

"You're welcome, kid," Luke sighed as he turned back around to tend to another customer, just when a new one in a suit walked in. The guy had a briefcase and a bunch of folders with him. Luke groaned and swore under his breath. Great. He had to put on a smile right then. He hated that part the most. 

Rory spent the whole week trying to set up the party for her mother. Everyone was involved and in charge of something. It was decided that since she had wanted the whole town to be there, they would hold it at the inn. Sookie and Mia were going to decorate the garden once Lorelai would have left work in the afternoon the day before her birthday. Mia had given her the day off on Saturday, refusing to let her work. Rory would then make an excuse for something she had forgotten there that she really needed to complete her homework and then have Lorelai drive her there once everyone had arrived. It was a perfect plan and Lorelai did not suspect a single thing. On Friday afternoon, Rory returned home after school to a very cheery Lorelai. Bon Jovi was blasting really loud throughout the house, so loud, that the lyrics to Livin' On a Prayer were heard all the way from the driveway outside. She walked inside, singing along to the all too familiar words and searched for her mother. She was surprised when she didn't find her in the living room nor the kitchen. She tried calling out for her but the stereo was playing so loud that she couldn't even hear her own voice as she yelled. She walked over to the large sound system and turned down the volume so that she could at least hear herself think. Then came the voice of her annoyed mother.

"Hey!" She called out from somewhere upstairs. "I was listening to that! If this is a burglar, I can assure you, you will regret touching that sound system!"

Rory let out a chuckle at her silly mother and walked upstairs to find her. "It's just me, Mom," she told her as she made her way to her mother's bedroom. And again, she wasn't in there.

"Well, in that case, I do not appreciate you cutting my Bon Jovi time!" She scolded her. Her voice sounded closer but Rory still couldn't find her.

"Mom, where are you?" She asked with a little laugh, completely ignoring her mother's irritated tone.

"In the bathroom. Where else would I be?" She replied, her daughter could practically see her eyes rolling through the wall that separated them. She walked over to the bathroom at the end of the hallway and leaned on the wall to speak to her mom.

"I really need to use the bathroom," she announced.

"Use the bathroom downstairs, I'm busy here!"

Rory frowned as she explained, "But it's clogged!"

"What, again?" Her mother asked with surprise and a little sigh. They had just fixed it last week. "When did that happen?"

"This morning while I was getting ready for school," she told her mom as her foot started tapping impatiently on the ground. "Mom, I really go!" She complained. Right then, a loud 'ow' was heard before Lorelai finally opened the door. She was wearing her bathrobe and was holding a razor in her hand. Her right leg was bleeding.

"Your fault," She said as she pointed at her bleeding leg with a glare in her daughter's direction.

"Sorry," Rory replied with a sheepish grin, but truth be told she was just really glad her mom was out of the bathroom in search of a Band-Aid and some Peroxide solution and she could finally pee. She had been holding it in for so long that it was a wonder her bladder hadn't burst yet! When she finally walked out, Lorelai was back with a Winnie the Pooh themed Band-Aid on her cut. "Aw! That's adorable!" Rory complimented and Lorelai rolled her eyes as she walked back inside.

"It was the only one we had. I have no idea why we even had it!" She muttered, taking another look at the plaster. In all honesty, though, she really did find it adorable. It was almost as though it's adorableness made her cut instantly better. "Now out! I need to finish shaving my legs for the extra nice dress I shall be wearing tomorrow!"

Rory raised a teasing eyebrow at her mother. "Oh? Is there a special occasion?" She asked her and Lorelai pouted, as though she was hurt her daughter had 'forgotten' her birthday. "Oh! Your birthday! Totally slipped my mind." She grinned innocently at her mother, really hoping she wouldn't find out about the surprise.

"Oh, I know you're planning something, little lady. And it's fine. I don't want to know, anyway. I love surprises!" Lorelai told Rory, but they both she was really bugged and really wanted to know what Rory was doing.

"No, you don't," Rory replied as she made her way back downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack. While Lorelai was still in the bathroom, she called the inn to make sure everything was in order. Sookie and Mia were decorating the place up just perfect for Lorelai's taste. Sookie had already taken care of the cake and she would be preparing the food tomorrow morning. The only thing left to do was get Lorelai there without any suspicions.

"Hey, who were you talking to?" Lorelai asked her, coming in out of nowhere and scaring her half to death.

"Jeez, Mom, you could've killed me!"

"Who knew I could be so quiet?" She said with a happy grin. "So, who was that?"

"Oh, uh, just Lane. She was telling me about this new CD she bought, an Oasis one," She lied to her mother. Of course, Lorelai could tell when Rory was lying because she was, well, horrible at it. So was she. But she let it go anyway. She was actually excited to find out what Rory was planning even though it was killing her. She really wanted to know, but she knew Rory would never cave and tell her. She was that stubborn just like she was. 

The rest of the night was spent with the girls watching some movies and eating lots of junk food until midnight. The whole time, Lorelai was trying subtly to make her daughter tell her all she had planned but she wasn't as subtle as she would have liked to be. Sure, she wasn't all that bad, but Rory was a very smart kid and she knew her mother very, very well. At midnight, the little girl grinned excitedly at her mother and engulfed her in the tightest bear hug in the world.

"Happy birthday, Mom!" She told her while tightening her arms around the birthday girl who only laughed and hugged her daughter back, a wide smile matching hers.

"Thanks, angel. Ugh! I love you so much, as teasing as you are!" she poked her daughter's side to tickle her. Rory only wiggled to the side, swatting her fingers aside.

"I love you too," She grinned at her and got off the couch. "Well, I'm really tired, so I'm going to head to sleep! Goodnight!"

"Aw, really? But we should go out and celebrate!" Lorelai pouted as she got off the couch as well.

"At midnight? I'm pretty sure everywhere is closed right now," Rory stated just as a yawn escaped her.

"That club that just opened up isn't," Lorelai joked as she tried to fight back a yawn. She didn't want to give in to her tiredness just yet.

"Oh, yeah, because they would totally let me inside!" Sarcasm practically dripped from her words but there was a hint of amusement in her sleepy eyes.

"Yeah, I'll use my special make-up skills, give you an old ID of mine, and everyone will think you're twenty-one!" Lorelai wiggled her eyebrows in a weird way at Rory who only laughed and shook her head.

"Goodnight, birthday girl," she said with a smile and walked into her room. But just a few seconds later, her head popped back out and she gave her mom a worried look.

"What? What's wrong? Is there a spider in there? Please don't let there be a spider in there!"

"Is that a-," she pointed at Lorelai with a horrified expression on her face. "Is that a white hair...?"

"WHAT?" Her mother felt as though she was having a heart attack right then and there. She dashed faster than she had ever done before to the mirror in the hallway to look at her hair. When she realized that Rory was only pulling her leg and basically joking with her about the fact that she was getting old, she walked back over to the girl who was on her bed laughing hysterically and clutching her stomach after seeing her mother's expression. She was laughing so hard that no sounds came out and tears were staining her cheeks. "Alright. That's it. You're getting it. The Lorelai wrath. All of it!" The mother threatened as she glared at her daughter who could only laugh harder at the empty threat. Except, it wasn't the emptiest of threats. Lorelai jumped on the bed with all the strength she had, landing right beside Rory but with her legs meeting with Rory's in a rather painful way. She ignored her throbbing right knee and proceeded to tickle Rory to death. The other girl was having a hard time formulating words and could barely breathe from all the laughing that she didn't even bother fighting her mom. Eventually, Lorelai herself got tired and decided it was time to stop. Rory had probably learned her lesson. They laid there quietly, staring up at the ceiling with wide grins on their faces. Rory scooted closer to her mom, slinging her arms around her waist as the older woman leaned over and pressed a loving kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Can you imagine, that at exactly this time, many moons ago, I was laying in exactly this position, only I had a huge, fat stomach and big, fat ankles," Rory started reciting the speech that her mother gave her every single year on her birthday, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Ha, ha! You think you're funny lil missy?" Lorelai told her with a small roll of her eyes, amusement glinting slightly in them.

"Oh, I know I'm hilarious!" Rory giggled, trying to make herself sound obnoxious, but it sounded so ridiculous Lorelai started laughing.

"Well, when you sound like that..."

"Hey!" She tried to sound offended but couldn't help the chuckle that left her throat.

They sat there in silence while hugging each other until they had both fallen asleep.


	14. Coffee Flavored Pancakes and Other Surprises

When Rory woke up first in the morning, she let her mother sleep in, letting relax on her birthday. She crawled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen to get the coffee maker started and grabbed the phone, dialing Luke’s number to make sure they were still on for the pancakes. The Diner owner assured her that he had the mix already prepared and that she had nothing to worry about. But of course, her being a perfectionist, she needed to make sure everything was in order. So she called the inn to make sure that Mia and Sookie had everything in order as well. Once she had hung up the phone, Lorelai came out of her room with a smile as she took a whiff of the freshly made coffee that came from the kitchen.

“Oh, I don’t know what I ever did to deserve a wonderful daughter like you who makes coffee for her mama!” She said, kissing her forehead and grabbed a cup to pour some coffee but Rory stopped her.

“Ah, ah, ah! Today, you’re not allowed to do anything but relax. You just sit there and I’ll be doing everything for you!” She told her as she poured the coffee herself and then handed the mug to her mom.

“Sounds great to me,” she grinned at that and took a sip of the coffee. “No offense, but coffee at Luke’s is better,” she said with a small smirk.

“Hey, I’m only eleven. And just because it’s your birthday, doesn’t mean you can be mean to me and tease me more than usual!” Rory complained and Lorelai only grinned and took another sip of her coffee. It was good coffee. But the coffee that Luke made was infinitely better. In Rory’s defense though, Luke made one of the meanest cups of joe she had ever had the pleasure to try.

“That is exactly what it means. You get a free insult on your birthday, which means I get ten because I’m older and I’m your mom so that just gives me more power.”

Rory only rolled her eyes at that and made her way to her room to get dressed for the day. “Let’s just go get breakfast!” she announced and closed her bedroom door so that she could get ready.

“Hey, do you think Luke will cook whatever I want because it’s my birthday today?” Lorelai wondered out loud and Rory smirked at that.

“I guess we’ll just have to go there and find out!”

“I hope he’s not a sourpuss today. That’s just bad energy. I need good energy today to endure my parents’ usual birthday phone call.” And with that, she made her way upstairs to get dressed. She ended up taking over an hour. Seeing as it was her birthday, she wanted to dress nice just because. It made her feel confident and she needed it, knowing deep inside she was getting older. She really feared growing up. And although she had become an adult from the early age of 16 when she had become a mom, she was still afraid of wrinkles and white hair. She needed all the confidence she could get, and a nice dress and some make-up gave her said confidence. Once they had finished getting ready, Rory complemented her, knowing that it would make her happy, and they set off to Luke’s. On the way there, they ran into a bunch of people who all knew it was her birthday and wished her a happy one. She was surprised that the whole town was aware but did not think too much of it. It was a very small town and news traveled faster than the speed of light here what with having townspeople like Babette and Miss Patty. She doesn’t have anything against these ladies, she loved them and thought they were amazing people and friends to her. But in all honesty, they couldn’t keep their mouths shut when it came to gossiping even if someone had managed to sew their lips shut. Finally, they reached Luke and walked inside. She was greeted again by a bunch of other people, including harmless but creepy Kirk who offered to hug her. She opted for the handshake instead. Luke looked up as she walked in and surprisingly smiled at her. He was usually really grumpy when she walked in, knowing what came along with her. Maybe he decided to be nice for her birthday? Nah, that was too weird and definitely not Luke, she thought. But then again, he has surprised her on multiple occasions before.

“Hey! Happy birthday!” He greeted her as she made his way from behind the counter toward her and Rory.

“Aw, thanks, Luke! How does everyone know though? I thought only Rory and Sookie and Mia knew,” She wondered and Luke pointed at Rory then.

“Big mouth!”

“Guilty as charged!” Rory grinned innocently at the adults.

“Well, sit down and I’ll get you two some coffee.” Luke pointed to Lorelai’s favorite table which was usually always filled at this time in the morning but was empty today. On the day of her birth. Coincidence? She was having a hard time thinking so. Plus, Luke was being all smiley and nice, it was horrible! Well, not really, but it sure as heck was peculiar!

The girls sat down at the table and Lorelai raised a questioning eyebrow at Rory who only shrugged and thanked Luke as he placed two cups of coffee in front of them.

“So, Luke, my boy! Are you ready for my order? It’s gonna be big today. Get that pen ready!” Lorelai said with a huge and excited grin playing on her lips.

“Well, actually. That’s being taken care of,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck a little nervously, she noted. She raised a surprised and confused eyebrow at him and he shrugged walking back to the kitchen.

“What is that supposed to mean? What does he mean?” she asked her daughter, a little freaked out. Rory only smirked knowingly at her, drinking more of her coffee but she didn’t reply. “Did you do something? This is all you, isn’t it? Of course, it is! It stinks Rory in here!” Lorelai accused, pointing her index finger at Rory who feigned an offended look.

“Hey! I don’t stink! I smell like fresh vanilla body cream, thank you very much!”

“You didn’t deny it,” Lorelai pointed out, this time being her turn to smirk at Rory.

“I didn’t confirm it either,” was all Rory said for the next few minutes until Luke came back out with a plate in his hands. The whole time, Lorelai was trying to get Rory to admit it but the kid chose to give her the silent treatment. She looked down at the plate that was set in front of her, a frown covering her face.

“Why do these pancakes look weird?” She asked as she looked up at Luke.

“Just try them,” he snapped, his cheeks turning slightly darker, while Rory was still smirking at her mom. Lorelai grabbed her fork and knife and hesitantly took a bit of the darker than usual colored pancakes with extra whipped cream and chocolate sauce on top. As soon as the piece hit her tongue, her eyes widened in amazement. She looked up at Luke and blurted before even swallowing, “You made these? Oh my gosh, it’s like I’m chewing heaven!” she exclaimed and took another bite.

“Wait, let me try them!” Rory asked enthusiastically to taste the pancakes. She grabbed a fork when her mother didn’t say anything, too focused on the food in front of her, and took a bite.

“DUDE! These are amazing. Oh my gosh, these should be on the menu. I would eat these pancakes every single day!” Rory's eyes were as wide as her mother’s as she chewed on the delicious coffee flavored pancakes.

“They’re coffee flavored, see, I knew it was Rory written all over it!” Lorelai pointed her fork which had a piece of the food on it at Rory and then shoved the piece on her mouth. Rory grinned at her and said, “You’re welcome!”

Finally remembering how these pancakes came to exist, she turned to Luke who was awkwardly standing there in silence and gave him the biggest smile ever. “Luke, you just made my birthday the best one yet with these. Thank you,” she told him and he returned the smile, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s no big deal.”

“Oh, it’s a big deal,” Cesare then cut in all the way from the kitchen. “He made me taste ten different recipes. I think I gained fifty pounds no thanks to him,” he sounded bitter as he flipped some toast in a pan.

Lorelai couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her, accompanied by the look of disbelief on her face. “Ten different recipes? Wow, I really feel bad for you, Ceaser,” She gave the guy a sympathetic look.

Luke’s cheeks were now matching the red shirt he had on. “It wasn’t ten. It was like two. Maybe three,” he stated and dashed back to the counter. Lorelai only smiled after him and kept on eating her breakfast with Rory. She was really touched by Luke’s gesture. No one had ever made special pancakes for her. They were especially special due to the fact that they were coffee flavored and she knew exactly how much Luke was against her coffee obsession. It was ironic how Luke still made a great cup of coffee when he didn’t really care for it at all.

As per Lorelai’s request, the girls made their way to the mall to shop for Lorelai’s birthday. It was one of her favorite activities so they decided to go ahead and spend the day running around shops and trying on pretty clothes. Of course, another reason behind it was trying her best not to be home when her mother called. The conversations were usually curt and annoying as heck.

They spent the whole entire day over there, trying on shoes and dresses and shirts of all sorts from all kinds of stores. They even went into the useless gadgets store and bought a useless doll that they thought looked really cool. It was a dancing rabbi doll and Lorelai swore that that was probably the best thing she had ever bought for herself. Not even her precious jeep could beat that doll. It even played Hava Nagila! They made their way to the food court at around three in the afternoon after a really long day of running around the huge mall. The girls had the great strategy of starting on the top floor and going down once they had been through all the stores on that floor. They had only finished the first floor and half of the next one when they decided it was time for a food break. They still had about two and a half floors to complete. When they got to the food court, they bought a thing from every single restaurant there. They had all sorts of things from burgers and fried chicken to Curry and Chinese noodles. There were donuts and churros too for dessert, and coffee, of course. It was a habit of theirs to eat more than usual on special occasions such as birthdays and holidays. Birthdays were more sacred though. The whole time while they ate, they made fun of all the ridiculous outfits they had seen in the shops and tried to guess places they would visit while wearing those ridiculous outfits that hurt their eyes. It was really hard to get the image of the other wearing those clothes though, once they had thought of it. It was basically cemented to the back of their eyes. It took them over an hour to finish all the food they had and when they did, they still had room for the dessert they had bought. Honestly, their stomachs were like Mary Poppins handbag. It could fit so much food in there. As they walked through the mall again, they were nibbling on their chocolate covered churros.

“Shall we?” Lorelai stopped then, pointing her churro at the entrance for Bloomingdale’s with a smirk on her face. She knew that once they went in there, they were only going to get out hours later with over ten bags. The fact that they were having a 50% off sale told her that she was going to have the best birthday ever.

“Yes, we shall!” Rory shoved the rest of her churro in her mouth and skipped inside excitedly with Lorelai hot on her heels. And just as she had suspected, they spent two hours and a half in there and came out with over ten bags. She might have spent a lot of money in there, but she thought she deserved it. She hadn’t been on a real shopping trip in a very long time and she thought she really earned it. Plus, it was her birthday after all.

After the Bloomingdale’s shopping haul, the girls were way too tired and decided they would go home and rest up before going out to dinner. Of course, they weren’t actually going to go have dinner because Rory had special plans, but Lorelai did not know that. It was already 6:30 in the afternoon when they had finally arrived home. They sat back on the couch, with Lorelai’s feet kicked on the coffee table and Rory’s legs lying on top of her mother’s.

“I’d say this was a very nice birthday!” She sighed with a satisfied grin on her face. Rory couldn’t help but smile back at her mother.

“Mhm, it was really fun. Plus, we got all those cute new outfits. I can’t wait to wear that Led Zep t-shirt to school. Lane is going to freak! I can’t believe we found that!” Rory let out a small excited shriek, causing her mom to laugh softly at her enthusiasm.

“It’s a kick-ass shirt! I can’t believe we found those original Charlie’s Angels plates that were missing. Now those are probably the best purchase, after the dancing rabbi, of course,” Lorelai said and Rory laughed, grabbing the bag that had the rabbi in and went to place him on the table near the door. She pressed the button that made him dance and sing, giggling at it.

“Totally. Nothing beats a dancing rabbi!” she agreed with her mom. She checked her watch right then, noticing that it was almost seven. The party started at seven thirty so they had to get going. “Uh, hey, Mom, I just remembered that I left one of my books at the inn that I need for homework. Can we pass by to grab it before we head to dinner?” She asked, trying her best not to give away her lie.

Lorelai had already gotten up and was checking messages on the phone so her back was facing Rory. She had never been gladder.

“Yeah, sure,” She replied as she pressed the button to hear the message, groaning loudly when her mother’s voice was heard.

“Lorelai, dear, Happy birthday! Richard, wish your daughter a happy birthday- Rich- Richard!”

“Yes, Lorelai, happy birthday,” her father said trying to seem enthusiastic but Lorelai knew he really wasn’t.

“Yes, I’m sorry we missed you for the second year in a row, you always seem to be out on your birthday. Nothing wrong with that, but if you’re out having too much fun, just remember you have an eleven-year-old. How is Rory doing? Is she still first in her grade? I knew that girl would be so smart! Yes, anyway, I have to get to a DAR meeting. You’ll be receiving a gift sometime tomorrow. I tried to make them send it over today but you know these delivery people, they’re incompetent and useless. Goodbye, Lorelai. We send our love.”

When the message ended, Lorelai physically cringed at the thought of whatever present her mother was going to send. She knew for sure she was going to exchange for something way better. “And she wonders why she keeps getting our answering machine,” she muttered under her breath as she made her way upstairs to freshen up for her night with Rory. When they had finished, they got into the jeep and headed for the inn to supposedly grab Rory’s stuff. The town was eerily calm which made Lorelai wonder why. It was a little freaky. There was always something going on, usually involving Taylor Doose and another townsperson. When she finally parked the car in front of the inn, the parking was filled with cars. Was there a convention that Mia had forgotten to mention? She wanted to be there to help! She sighed as she turned off the engine and slipped out of the car. She walked behind Rory as they made their way inside. “So, where did you forget your book?” She asked her, aimlessly following her daughter around.

“I think outside; I was sitting on the swing in the back garden while studying,” Rory replied as she walked in the direction of the backdoor that led outside. She couldn’t help the wide grin and her overly excited walk. Lorelai took notice to that but remained quiet, although she did start suspecting something weird. Finally, when they reached the sliding doors, Rory stopped in her tracks and turned around to face her mom. “I’m going to be your favorite after this,” she said and opened the sliding doors. They stood outside in the quiet and seemingly empty garden for a few seconds, a very confused look on the mom’s face right when the whole town came out from under tables and behind poles where they were hiding, yelling at the top of their lungs, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORELAI!”

Her hand instantly shot up to her face as she looked at everyone in surprise. She really wasn’t expecting any of this. She thought maybe Sookie and Mia would surprise her at the restaurant where Rory had supposedly made the reservation, but definitely not practically everyone she knew in this small town. She was really touched. “Oh my gosh, Rory!” She said and engulfed the little kid in a tight hug. She sniffed but couldn’t help the biggest smile that forced its way on her face. Rory had a matching one as she hugged her mother back just as tight. Mia was the first one who walked over to them and wrapped her arms around her really tightly. “Happy birthday, sweetheart! You know, you don’t look a day over eighteen,” she said and Lorelai stuck her tongue out childishly at Rory because of the joke she had made the previous night about her getting old. “Gosh, I still remember the day you walked in here with this adorable little baby on your hip. I’m so proud of you, Lorelai!” Mia smiled at her, her eyes warm and filled with adoration for the young woman. Lorelai hugged her again tightly as she replied.

“Thank you, Mia. You know I couldn’t be here without you,” she said, looking at her with gratefulness.

Sookie was next. She came up to Lorelai and gave her bear hug. Then she proceeded to tell her about the cake that she had to bake three times before getting the perfect one. It was her favorite flavor with icing on top along with chocolate chips and sprinkles on top. She also made her the famous risotto all to herself and Lorelai all but suffocated her with the hug she gave her after that. Sookie’s risotto was absolutely divine.

A bunch of other people had come up to her and gave her hugs while wishing her a very happy birthday. She finally got to sit down on the table with Rory and she smiled at her widely. “I love you, kiddo,” she told her as she took her daughter’s hand and squeezed it, a motherly affectionate touch.

“I love you too, mommy,” She grinned up at her mother. “So, you like the surprise?”

“I love it! I can’t believe you managed to pull this all off without me even realizing! I’m so proud!” she pressed a kiss on her daughter’s temple who only laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “You even got a birthday poster with the Bee Gee’s faces on it! How did you manage that?”

“When you live with someone like yourself, you catch onto some really useful skills!” Rory answered and they both laughed at that.

“You really are the best kid anyone could have ever prayed for.”

“And you really are the best mom anyone could ever want. You deserve something like this!” Rory exclaimed and Lorelai honestly was so close to tears. She swallowed back the lump that had formed in her throat, trying really hard not to let her happy tears fall. They would have if it weren’t for what happened next. A band came out and plugged in their instruments. She raised an eyebrow at Rory who smirked at her but didn’t say anything.

“Happy Birthday, Lorelai!” the lead singer spoke into the microphone before he started singing The Beatles’ song “Birthday.” The band played a couple other songs after that, all of which were Lorelai’s favorite. Miss Patty was the one to get the band. Rory had given her a playlist of all of Lorelai’s favorite songs and she somehow managed to get a band who could play all of them. The whole garden was decorated in a way that literally screamed LORELAI. It was amazing, really.

She noticed after a while that Luke was there, which was really the biggest surprise of all. She didn’t think she would ever see Luke at a party. He didn’t seem like a guy who enjoyed these events, and the scowl on his face told her that she was right. He was having a horrible time. Maybe it was the music which she knew he wasn’t really fond of. She walked over to him where he was standing at the grill, flipping hamburger patties and hot dogs. “Hey,” she said with a smile. He looked up as she added, “Smells great!”

“Hey, thank you,” he returned the smile, almost brightening up when she talked to him. “Didn’t think you would have time to talk to us, miss too popular and busy grabbing everyone’s attention!” he joked and she rolled her eyes at him.

“I can’t really help it. Everyone wants a piece of this!” She pointed at herself and he chuckled, shaking his head a little.

“I’m sure once these patties are done, everyone will forget about ‘this’ and want a piece of ‘this’ instead!” He pointed his spatula at her first and then at the meat he was cooking. She only laughed and nodded her head.

“Yeah, probably. I would want a piece of that too if I’m being honest.”

Just then Sookie came up to her and practically pulled her to the front where Mia had a microphone in her hand and wanted to make a toast. She cleared her throat, testing the microphone to make sure it worked. “Well, hey, everyone! First of all, I would like to wish our lovely Lorelai here and very happy birthday. I also want to tell you and everyone else in here just how proud of you I really am. Everyone should know just how amazing this young lady really is. She is strong and stubborn and always does whatever it takes to get the best for herself and more importantly for Rory. And I admire you a lot for that, Lorelai. I love you, darling. Happy birthday!”

Everyone clapped at that, Lorelai included except she was having a hard time refraining herself from crying again. She smiled widely at Mia and mouthed to her a thank you and ‘I love you too.’

Rory came up next and took the mic from Mia. “Everyone here knows my mom and how difficult she is to deal with at times.” She started and Lorelai heard the chuckle that came out from Luke who was standing behind her. He got the worst of it every morning at the Diner. “Well, I would know. I have to live with her!” everyone laughed at that and Lorelai rolled her eyes at her daughter but couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across her cheeks. “But, in spite of all her annoying shenanigans, she is still the best person I know and I just wanna say thank you, Mom, for everything that you’ve done for us. I love you!”

This time, Lorelai really couldn’t help the few tears that fell from her eyes. She walked up to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her smaller frame in a really tight hug. “I hate you for ruining my make-up. But I still love you, angel. Thank you,” she whispered in her ear, causing Rory to laugh and hug her mom even tighter. When she pulled back, she took the mic from her and cleared her throat, turning around to face her friends. “Thank you all for being here. This is probably the best big party I’ve ever hard,” she started. The ones her mom had usually thrown for her were usually more for Emily and were very boring. “I’m just- I’m really moved by all this. Thank you.” She was honestly speechless. She wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders just when Luke announced that the burgers were ready. Sookie had made some other things and tiny appetizers that were devoured within the first few minutes of everyone being there. At Luke’s announcement though, everyone practically ran to the grill with plates in their hands to grab some food.

Lorelai decided to wait and sit at the table where Mia was already sitting. “hey,” she said, grabbing her attention. “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s all wonderful. It’s a great party that Rory threw. She’s just as amazing as you are!”

“Yeah, she really is a great kid,” Lorelai agreed, staring at where her daughter was standing beside Luke, helping him out with the hot dogs and burgers with the proudest smile on her face.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Mia started and Lorelai’s eyes widened a little in worry.

“What’s up? Is everything okay?” She flooded her with questions to make sure it was all alright.

“Yes, I’m fine. Well, actually, I’m better than fine. Well, I’m moving. To North Carolina,” Mia announced.

“What? You can’t leave. What about the inn? Oh my gosh, you’re not selling the inn, are you? You can’t. Who’s going to run it?” Lorelai started asking questions in worry and Mia couldn’t help the small chuckle she let out.

“Well, actually, I was thinking you would. If you wanted to, of course.”

“I would what….?”

“Run the inn. Become the executive manager. Take my place, make it great,” Mia told her and Lorelai was watching her in silence with wide eyes. She couldn’t run the inn, what was Mia thinking? Manage it, sure! But run it all on her own? She would ruin it!

“I can’t run the inn!” She exclaimed after a while and Mia shook her head, shushing her.

“Nope. I will not hear it. You are the one person I trust the most. I know you can do this.”

“But I don’t even have a high school degree, let alone a college one. I’m not qualified!” it was true, technically she wasn’t qualified. Everything she knew about running an inn was all that Mia had taught her in the past ten years of her being there.

“Lorelai, you know everything about this inn. You know everything I know and maybe even more. You are qualified to do this more than anyone else. A kid with a business degree fresh out of college would probably burn this place to the ground!” she told her with a stern look. She really thought Lorelai could do a wonderful job running the inn. She had so much faith in her.

“But I don’t even have a degree!” Lorelai was still fighting this. She, on the other hand, did not have as much faith in herself.

“Well, then, get one!” Mia replied as though that was the simplest thing in the world.

“But I never finished high school!”

“Then get a GED diploma!” Mia wasn’t going to give up. She knew she could do this. She has gotten this far without any help and she could get farther with that stubborn head of hers.

“How do I do that!” she was really panicking right now.

“You get books, you study, Rory can probably help you, you pass the GED tests, you get into college. Easy!”

“Huh…” She replied, actually thinking this through this time. Maybe Mia did have a point. She could go through those tests and go to a college in town, get a business diploma, and then she could run the inn for her easily. Hell, with her own diploma she could run her own business. This might not be so bad after all. Apart from the fact that Mia was leaving, this could be a good thing.

“You know I’m right. I can see it in your eyes.” Mia noted with a small smirk and Lorelai just rolled her eyes at her.

“Okay, but do you really have to leave? All the way to North Carolina?” Lorelai pouted at the older woman who chuckled and nodded her head.

“Well, yeah, I kind of do. Aw, honey!” She held Lorelai’s face in her hands in an endearing touch and pushed her hair back behind her ear. “It’ll be okay, dear. I’ll still come back to check on you every once in a while. I also hired someone to help you around. His name is Michel Gerard. He’s French. Can be a bit of a grouch sometimes. But he’s great. You’ll love him!”

“Who will we love?” Rory came then and sat down beside her mother and placed a plate filled with food on the table.

“This new guy Mia hired because she’s leaving us,” Lorelai replied bitterly, the scowl still on her face and her arms folded tightly across her chest. She looked like a little child whose parents had just confiscated his video game.

“What? Mia, you can’t leave! Who will run this place?” Rory was just as upset and shocked as her mother was.

“Oh, not you too! It’ll be fine. Your mother will take over and she will do a wonderful at it!” Mia reassured them but Rory was not having it either.

“She can’t do that though; she doesn’t have a degree in running inns!” she exclaimed loudly, her mother nodding her head in agreement. Although, the fact that Rory didn’t really have faith in her kind of sucked, she thought her daughter was right. But really, Rory knew her mom had in her, she just really didn’t want Mia to leave. She was like Lorelai’s surrogate mother and Rory’s surrogate grandmother. She was family.

“Oh, Rory, don’t you start too. Lorelai can do this, maybe even better than I can. I’ve watched you grow and I know how you handle things, hon, and you’ve got this. With your stubbornness and strong will, you can do it. You can do whatever you want. Hell, you can start a revolution! Don’t do it though...”

The girls laughed at Mia’s light humor and proceeded by engulfing her in a tight hug. “We don’t want you to go,” Rory mumbled with a little bit of sadness in her voice.

“I’ll only be a phone call way, sweetheart,” she replied, gently brushing the hair off the little girl’s face. “I’ve watched you girls grow up and take your first steps in this world, and I’ve gotta say, I’m so very proud of the two of you, and I know you two are going off to do some great things! I know I’m gonna be reading about you Gilmore girls in the news!”

“Give me another ten years and I’ll be broadcasting alongside Christian Amanpour!” Rory exclaimed with a giggle and Mia nodded saying that she just knows that she will be seeing her on television as the greatest journalist and reporter of her time. It made Rory grin widely and dream of it even more.

“So, when do you have to go?” Lorelai finally asked her after a while and Mia gave her a sad smile.

“In a few weeks. I’ve already started packing my things.” She told them, their pouts only becoming deeper.

“That’s not fair!” Rory exclaimed with a sad look in her eyes, a matching one in her mother’s but she wasn’t expressing her feelings as loud as Rory which was weird. Lorelai was usually the louder one. Mia only went back to hugging her.

They spent the rest of the night just talking to Mia and hanging with her. It was truly one of the best nights Lorelai had ever had, and she had Rory to thank for that. Sometime later, Luke and Sookie joined the girls at the table, each with a plate of food and they all ate and chatted and laughed. Well, the girls were at least. Luke wasn’t too keen on what Mia was saying. She was kind of exposing him and his childhood antics, causing the tips of his ears to match the ketchup on his plate. They all had a beer in hand, except for Rory who was drinking a club soda. She asked her mom if it was okay for her to taste the drink that everyone seemed excited to drink on this occasion and Lorelai was fine with it as long as it was just a small sip. She was very satisfied by the disgusted look Rory gave her after shoving the bottle back in her mother’s palm. It made her physically relax to be reassured that Rory would not be drinking for the next couple of years and maybe even for the rest of her life. It was a very beautiful evening with all of her friends and all of the people she cared for around her. She was still upset after Mia’s news but was actually excited for this next stage of her life. Everyone else was just as upset as she was to learn of her departure. But they didn’t let it ruin their evening. The band had continued to play some songs after dinner and everyone was dancing and having the times of their lives. Miss Patty had even had one too many drinks and practically shoved the lead singer away from the microphone and stole his spotlight.

It was around midnight when everyone started to leave. Lorelai and Rory hugged Mia goodbye before she left. After that, it was just the girls, Sookie, Luke and Jackson, the produce guy who she believed had a crush on Sookie. It was very obvious from the way he talked to her and looked at her. They sat there quietly looking up at the stars, enjoying each other’s company. Rory had her head on her mother’s lap while Lorelai’s fingers gently brushed her hair. She had never felt as serene as she did right at that moment. Once she couldn’t keep her eyes open, she decided it was probably time to leave. So they all got up and they each carried a bunch of the presents that were left in the corner and carried them to Lorelai’s jeep. They had a hard time fitting them all in the trunk so they had to place the rest in the back seat and between her and Rory’s legs. Sookie and Jackson left right after that and it was just Rory, Luke, and Lorelai. The kid was already in the car, almost falling asleep in there.

“Hey, so uh, happy birthday, again,” Luke told her with a small smile on his face and adjusted his cap.

“Thanks, Luke. Really. It means a lot to me, you know, everything that you did,” she told him with a sincere smile. He shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied and started making his way to where his truck was parked.

“So, did you really try out ten different coffee pancakes recipes?” She asked him as she opened the door to her car.

He looked away as if he was embarrassed and only replied with “Goodnight, Lorelai,” before getting in his truck and driving off. She took that as a yes, a small smirk playing on her lips as she got into her car and drove back home. All in all, she would say this day was a very successful one. She especially could not wait to open up all the presents she knew she was going to have to return at least half of.


	15. Chickenpox

The next few weeks were spent with Mia spending as much time as possible with Lorelai and Rory before she had to leave for North Carolina. She also had to train the new front desk manager, Michel, who was very grumpy and very hard to deal with. Lorelai wasn’t great help either. She spent most of the time either making very sarcastic comments that the poor French guy couldn’t understand, and when he did, he would grumble something in French which was probably a series of curse words that only made Lorelai feel the need to make fun of even more.

Lorelai had also started looking more into that GED thing Mia was telling her about and she was actually starting to get excited about it. Getting into college could be a great step in her future. Plus, it meant Rory could look up to her even more and set a good example for her daughter. She knew for sure that her kid was going to get into college, any college she wanted, but it still made her feel good to know that she could be someone her daughter would be proud of by finishing her education and getting a degree. She had signed up for the test already and was cramming so much material she could only remember less than 10% off from her school days. But with a little help from Rory and Sookie, she understood most of the material easily. The rest, well, it may have taken a little more time. But she was getting there and she was honestly really proud of herself for doing so.

When it was finally time for Mia to leave, the girls were clinging on to her like she was air and they were about to die from suffocation. It was kind of funny how tightly they held on to her, but it also brought tears to the eyes. Saying that they were going to miss Mia would have been an understatement. The woman took them under her wing and took great care of them when they had nothing. She made sure Lorelai could provide for her daughter and she was eternally grateful for her. She loved her just like a mother and she could never repay her for all that she’s done for her and her kid. After Mia was finally able to wiggle herself out of the girls’ embrace with much reluctance at that, she had left with the promise of calling in every chance she got and even coming back whenever she had some free time on her hands, and she did keep her promise indeed. Although they didn’t see for a while, they did hear from her at least once a weak thanks to her weekly phone calls and occasional letter or postcard. Lorelai and Rory missed her a lot, along with the rest of the town that loved her very much, but they got along fine without her. After all, she hadn’t left their lives completely. She was only a few states away. Which was very far away. But still, it didn’t bring them down. Lorelai had found it a little bit hard running the inn on her own the first couple of weeks, especially with all the studying she had been doing and Michel being a little French pain in the butt. He was always grumpy and it wasn’t pleasant grumpy like Luke, no, it was annoying grumpy. And although Lorelai and Rory found it amusing at first, it became terrible when Michel was being rude to the annoying guests and Lorelai had to make it up to them while trying her best not to laugh. After all, she did think of reacting the same way when customers were being bad ones but she had always kept the scenarios to herself or had opted to share them with Rory and Sookie but she had never dreamed of flat-out yelling the words at them just as Michel did. It was amusing to watch but a pain to make the guests stay and actually pay for their stay at the Inn. It was a struggle, but she had started warming up to Michel who was always getting used to her odd shenanigans. They had found a steady, occasionally hectic pace to run the inn along with their lives. When Rory wasn’t too busy studying for her own tests, she tried her best to study the material that her mother had to learn to be able to help her out with them, and she did actually help her out. When Lorelai couldn’t understand something and Sookie couldn’t remember it from her days back in school, it was Rory who helped her. God knows where she got those super smart genes from. Lorelai was very smart, but she wasn’t a genius like her little kid was. And neither was Chris. Last she remembered, he was struggling with calculus. But not Rory. Maybe the theory of "two negatives make a positive" worked in the science of procreation as well.

It was already June, which meant Lorelai’s test was just a few weeks away. She was cramming so much information in her brain and consuming way too much coffee to keep her up at ungodly hours while she was studying. It wasn’t healthy, but she knew she had to do her best to pass those tests so she could get into college. Everyone was worried about her and the fact that she was barely getting any sleep at all. Even Rory had never studied as hard as she was. But she always brushed it off and stated that she was fine with a little bit of caffeine in her system.

Her first test was going to take place on a Saturday. Friday morning, the day right before her test, Lorelai was an absolute mess. She had fallen asleep the night before on the couch, with her notebook in her hands. When she woke up at around five in the morning, she smiled when she saw the blanket thrown over her shoulders. Rory was a good kid indeed. She made her way to the kitchen to grab some more coffee only to end up pouting in disappointment when she found the coffee maker very empty. She searched everywhere for a bag of ground coffee beans to make some fresh coffee but was further disappointed to find the empty bag in the trashcan. She groaned loudly and wasted no time in grabbing her keys and her bag with all her books inside and made her way to her car that was parked outside. She needed coffee ASAP. She found herself a couple of minutes later parked right outside of Luke’s Diner. The lights inside were still off but she could see a figure moving around. Why was Luke up so early? Literally, everyone else in the town was still asleep. He was a weird one, that dude, she was certain of that. She walked over to the glass door and knocked on it furiously. It took a minute or two until Luke opened the door with a confused and slightly annoyed expression on his face.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He asked her with a raised eyebrow. “It’s five in the damn morning!”

“You’re up too. So why are you so annoyed?” She replied with a grin and pushed past him and into the empty diner. “This place looks weird when it’s empty,” she stated, flipping one of the chairs off a table and setting it on the floor. She sat down on it and laid her head on the cold surface of the table. “I really need coffee.”

“Well, too bad. We’re not open. Get some at your own house.” Luke grumbled as he stood there by the door, still holding it open.

“I can’t. Drank it all. Doose’s won’t be open till 7:00, so I guess you’re stuck with me,” she looked up at the man with a lopsided grin and smiled triumphantly when he groaned and trudged back to the counter where he turned on the coffee machine to make a fresh pot.

“You’re going to kill yourself with all that coffee you’re consuming and all that studying you’re doing. It’s not healthy.” He told her with a hint of genuine concern in his tone and warm eyes.

“Just a week left. Then I’m free from all this,” she replied with a small sigh. She pushed her hair away from her face and grabbed her study guide to practice some more for her upcoming test.

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this to yourself. I could never put myself through school all over again. Man, those were horrible times. I was so glad when I was done,” Luke said as he grabbed her cup of coffee, placing it in front of her, and went on to fix the place so that he could open it up soon.

“Yeah, well, I was never ‘done’ with school,” she spoke quietly with a little shrug of her shoulders, focusing on the information written on the piece of paper in front of her. She knew the material by heart by now but she wanted to ace those tests so she put more stress on herself. If she wasn’t at work, she was studying. If she it wasn’t between one in the morning and five in the morning, she was studying. If she was in the bathroom using the toilet, she was studying. If she was showering, she had Rory read the material to her. She knew she was going a little overboard with all of this, but it had been about ten years since she had properly studied something and she wanted it so bad now, she couldn’t afford to get a grade that was not perfect.

“Really? You never graduated?” Luke looked at her with raised eyebrows when he had finally finished setting all the chairs on the ground and sat down on the one facing hers.

“No, dude, why do you think I’m doing all of this? If I had my diploma, I wouldn’t need to get a GED to get into college,” she rolled her eyes at him but couldn’t help the amused smirk that played on her lips. The guy was clueless about literally everything that didn’t involve a toolbox, football, and cooking diner food.

“Wait, what’s a GED?” he wondered, his eyebrows furrowing in the middle in confusion.

She sighed and didn’t answer instantly. Instead, she searched between her papers until she came across one that had everything relating to the tests she was taking. She handed it to him and went back to her studying.

“Huh,” he muttered, turning the paper over. “So this substitutes graduating high school?”

“Yep. Basically.” She replied without paying him any attention, absentmindedly chewing on the back of her pen.

“So if you pass these, you can get into college?”

“Yep. Basically.”

“But why do you need to get into college? You’re already the executive manager at the inn.”

She looked up at him then with an “are you serious?” look on her face. “Luke, I have really no clue what I’m doing. I mean so far, the inn is still standing. But I need to learn these things in college so I can be qualified to do the job.”

“But you know everything. You’ve been working there for a decade now. Mia taught you everything you need to do, right? So why bother yourself with all this work that is causing me headaches just by looking at it? I can’t imagine how terrible your headache is,” he scoffed, taking the book in his hand to sift through the pages only to hand it back to Lorelai with a grimace on his face. She had the same look when she got the book except hers was accompanied by a terrified one.

 

“Because” she shrugged her shoulders as she turned back to the papers. “I wanna do it for Rory. I wanna make her proud,” she mumbled quietly, her eyes still looking down at the table but she wasn’t really reading any of the words at this point.

“Lorelai, do you even see the way that kid looks at you? It’s like you’re her hero. She looks up to you so much. You don’t need to prove anything to her to make her proud. She already is,” Luke said, his cheeks instantly turning a slight pink color. He hadn’t expected something like that to burst out of him, and Lorelai certainly had not either. Nevertheless, she couldn’t hide her huge grin.

“Aw, thanks, Luke. I mean, I know, I am kind of the world’s greatest mom!” she stated with a little jokingly cocky smirk, “for real though, I want to set a good example for her. I mean, kid’s trying to get into Harvard and I don’t want anything that I do to compromise that or ruin her dreams or simply make her care any less about that. I wanna see her on that stage, wearing her cap and her gown and taking that diploma with the big red Harvard sign behind her. I don’t want anything to discourage her from getting there. Especially not me.”

“She’ll get there. I mean, I’ve heard from Mia that her first word was basically Harvard.”

“No, if I remember correctly, I think it was ‘Mom, can you hand me that dictionary?’” Lorelai said with a soft chuckle which Luke returned.

“Hey, you got nothing to worry about. She’s a great kid,” Luke smiled at her as he got up when a customer entered the diner. He turned around at the last second and added with a small smile, “and you’re a great mom too.”

Lorelai found herself beaming as she turned her attention back to her books. Sometime around seven, Rory had walked into the diner to find her mother throwing crumpled up pieces of paper around.

“Good morning, grumpy. What did the floor ever do to you?” Rory shook her head as she picked up the paper and threw it in the trashcan but she couldn’t help the amused smile on her face.

“I can’t get this equation right,” Lorelai replied in frustration as she went back to writing on a new piece of paper.

“You’ll get it soon enough,” Rory reassured and sat down in the seat that Luke was in earlier. A few minutes later, she was once again crumpling up the paper and tossing it over her shoulder except this time, it hit Luke right in the nose. He wasn’t too pleased about it.

“I would really appreciate it if you leave,” he grunted as he made his way to new customers through the morning rush.

“No can do, sister! I need more coffee!”

“This is your fifth cup in two hours. I’m not getting you any more coffee. You need to get some food in your system before you pass out.” He scolded her for her careless behavior. She rolled her eyes at him but smiled at his caring side. He really was a big softy deep inside.

“Fine. If you get me some eggs and bacon, then can I have some coffee?” she tried smiling at him sweetly but he ignored her completely, going to the kitchen to get her the breakfast minus the coffee.

“Can I get some waffles?” Rory called after him and then turned her attention back to her mom. “Mom, seriously though, you gotta stop worrying so much and stressing yourself out as much as you are. You’re getting grey hair from all that pressure you’re putting on yourself.”

Lorelai scoffed, ignoring her daughter’s comment and still trying to do her work. “We Gilmores do not get grey hair. We Gilmores have great hair genes.”

“Oh, goody! Then we have nothing to worry about ever again!” Rory replied with sarcasm to which Lorelai rolled her eyes. She had been doing that a lot lately. Everyone was being so annoying with their over caring selves!

Luke brought back their breakfast a few minutes later and Lorelai tried persuading him in giving her more coffee but when he wasn’t budging, she grumbled some incoherent swear words directed to him and finished her food. He completely ignored her swear words and turned his attention back to less annoying customers.

“Yoo-hoo, oh, Lukey!” she spoke in a sing-song voice, batting her eyelashes in his direction. Rory was snickering quietly to herself as she watched her mother embarrass Luke who was now walking angrily in their direction.

“Can you not do that? Please.” He spat at her and she grinned at him. Success!

“We would like the bill, please.” She said and he sighed, pulling the tiny notebook from his pocket and writing their total on it before turning back to work. She left a few bills on the table and laughed quietly at his annoyed self. She loved getting under his skin so much. His reactions always brought her comfort.

“Bye-bye, Lukey!” she waved at him just as she was about to leave with Rory hot on her heels. If Rory wasn’t standing right behind her, she could have sworn he was about to swing the pan that was in his head at her. She couldn’t help but burst out into laughter as she made her way to her car.

“You are unbelievable!” Rory said in between her laughs and Lorelai shrugged, grinning at her daughter.

“I’m quite charming though, aren’t I?”

“Oh, the most charming person I know!” Rory replied sarcastically. The girls laughed again before Lorelai pulled her kid in for a hug and then let her meet up with Lane to get to school. She got in her car after and started driving toward the inn where she would spend the next couple hours focusing more on her studies than her actual work. Sookie had to physically pull her away from her desk to the kitchen to get some food in her system so she wouldn’t collapse during her lunch break. It was kind of amusing to Michel who was probably mocking her in French. She didn’t understand him of course, so she found herself cursing at him under her breath, which of course he caught on to and went to call Mia to complain to her about Lorelai being mean. When she had finished working, Sookie also had to confiscate her books so that she could finally get back in her car and to her daughter back home. Lorelai tried to beg her to give her the books back but she wouldn’t until she was sure Lorelai was in the car and was actually going back home. It was about 9 pm when she had finally made it back. The minute her butt landed on the couch, her eyes were closed and she was ready to fall asleep. Until Rory shook her awake with a loud scream. She got up instantly, protective mom mode on, and ran toward the bathroom where the sound was coming from. She opened the door, her eyes wild and worried as she looked at her daughter with an expression of fear on her face. And then she noticed the red dots.

“OH MY GOSH! RORY WHAT IS THAT ON YOUR FACE!” she yelled, her mouth fallen agape. She held her daughter’s face in her hands as she inspected the pimples only to noticed that they continued along her neck and her arms. “Oh, gosh, honey, I think - I think you got the chickenpox,” she said a little quieter now but the worry was still evident in her voice.

“But, but I can’t have the chicken pox! That means I have to miss school unless I want to pull a Missy Longville and come to school with chickenpox… MISSY LONGVILLE! THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!” she was now close to tears as she clung to her mother. Her worst nightmare was missing a day of school.

“Aw, baby, it’s okay. You’ll be okay in a couple of days. I’ll run to the store and get you some meds right now but you have to promise not to scratch them, okay? You don’t want scars on your pretty face, now do ya?” Lorelai told her as she gently caressed her daughter’s face, trying to soothe her. She knew how bad the chickenpox was, having dealt with it when she was younger herself. Rory nodded as she sniffed and hugged her mother.

“But they’re so itchy. I can’t help it!”

“You gotta try, hon. It’ll be okay.” She pressed a soft kiss on top of her hair before grabbing her keys and going to the drugstore to get her the medicines she needed. When she came back, she found Rory standing in the doorway in her undershirt, trying to get as much friction as possible from the door to scratch all the spots on her back that she couldn’t reach herself. Lorelai honestly couldn’t help but laugh at the scene in front of her.

“Dude, you look ridiculous,” she chuckled as she closed the door behind her and led her daughter back to her bed. She laid her down and grabbed the prescription cream from the bag. She started rubbing them with a cotton ball on all the pimples while Rory pouted because she couldn’t itch them. “This should help, according to the pharmacist,” Lorelai told her once she was done, setting the lotion on the bedside table and smiling sympathetically at Rory. That night, she spent it in the chair that was in Rory’s room facing her bed, staring at her little daughter all night, watching her and making sure she was okay. She had her books in her hands, trying to get as much information as possible before her big test the next day. She fell asleep eventually, only to wake up very confused in the morning when Rory was shaking her shoulders gently. There was light streaming in from the windows which meant it was morning already. She stretched and got out of the chair, following Rory to the kitchen where they sat down to eat some pop tarts.

“What time is it?” She wondered as she nibbled on the food.

“Almost seven. You should get going soon if you don’t wanna be late for your test.” Rory answered and then realization hit her.

“I can’t go.”

“What? Mom, of course you can. You got this. You know everything by heart. You’re going to do so well!” Rory tried to reassure her as she tried to itch her back.

“No, Rory, I can’t leave you alone. Not in this situation that you’re in!” Lorelai stood up frantically trying to think of a solution.

“It’s alright mom, I can take care of myself!”

“No, Rory, what if something happened? What if you got a fever? Or- or, gosh, I can’t leave you alone! I can’t go!” she started pacing around the room, biting nervously at her fingernails.

“Mom, Mommy, hey, Mom, listen to me!” Rory tried to grab her mother’s attention.

“Oh, hey, you think maybe Sookie can babysit you?”

“I don’t need a babysitter! I’m eleven!” Rory tried to reason but Lorelai wasn’t hearing it.

“You’re eleven and you’re sick. So shush.” She grabbed the phone and dialed Sookie’s number. Unfortunately, she had forgotten about the important thing at the inn that Sookie had to cook for and couldn’t make it. But she promised her to come over and check on Rory the first chance she gets. She was about to cancel her test and decide to stay home with her daughter’s when a bright idea came to her. She dialed the number and waited anxiously for him to answer.

“Luke!” she said as soon as he replied. “I need you to babysit Rory.”

“You need me to what? Who is this?” he answered a little confused.

“It’s Lorelai. How many Rorys do you know?” she rolled her eyes.

“Just the one,” he muttered with a sigh. “What do you need me to babysit Rory for? She’s eleven.”

“Yes, thank you, I know. But she has the chickenpox and I have my tests in thirty minutes and I can’t leave Rory alone and Sookie can’t make it and I would have called Mia except she’s all the way across the country and gosh, I can’t miss my tests, I can’t-,”

“Alright, alright, I’ll be right there,” he said in a slightly annoyed and slightly worried tone and hung up the phone. Sure enough, ten minutes later, Luke was there carrying a care package.

“What’s in there?” Lorelai wondered as she took the bag from him.

“Oven mitts and some tape for her hands so that she doesn’t scratch the pimples and leave scars, oatmeal bath, it helps a lot, some fruit because I’m pretty sure you don’t have any of that here and she should have healthy food to help build her immune system and some stuff to make her lunch with because I doubt you have anything in that fridge of yours other than pizza that is few days old.”

“Have you been snooping around my house?” She raised an amused eyebrow at him and he chuckled with a shrug.

“A simple thank you would suffice.”

“Thank you, Luke, gosh, I owe you a big one!” she surprised the both of them by giving him a quick hug and then hurried to her daughter to kiss her forehead gently. “Be good, kid, I’ll be back in a few hours! I love you!”

“I love you too, good luck, Mom!” Rory called out to her as she rushed outside to her car to get to her test on time. She really thought the stress was going to cause her to collapse any second now. This was not good.


End file.
